The first Cabinet minister to publish his diaries (posthumously) was Dick Crossman. In three volumes they cover 1964-70, with a fourth volume of backbench diaries covering the 1950s. They remain, like the cornflakes, the original and best, though it is of course vital to cross-reference with the other diaries that now cover the period for any serious study.

Tony Benn published his more recently but has now become the most prolific political diarist of them all. His volumes are immensely readable, fascinating and strongly partisan. To really understand Labour history, reading the Benn diaries' account is vital, but so is reading an alternative perspective (such as John Golding's memoir for the 1980s).

Barbara Castle's two volumes cover 1964-700 and 1974-76. Unfortunately they are less readable than either her own memoir or the diaries of Crossman/Benn. Patrick Gordon-Walker's diaries, covering the 1950s-1970s are interesting but have large gaps at rather crucial junctures.

Diaries covering pre-1960s Labour history include the posthumously published Hugh Gaitskell, Hugh Dalton, and Chuter Ede diaries. All are readable, but both Gaitskell's and Ede's are patchy. For the 1920s and before, Beatrice Webb's diaries are fascinating.