"Too often organisational histories gloss over tensions. Ian does not hold back from describing the extraordinary story of how the unsighted took over from the sighted. An extraordinary case study reflecting on the challenges and changes in the charity sector since the 1970s. A must read for any person interested in change." Professor Paul Palmer, Bayes Business School "The strength of this well-crafted account of the RNIB's recent history is the way in which Ian Bruce relates the story of the Institute not only to the context of disability politics but also to wider movements in the voluntary sector and society as a whole. This is a must read." Sir Stuart Etherington, Chair, Oversight Trust "This book will be of consuming interest to students of the British welfare state and its complex and shifting relationship with the voluntary sector. Thanks to Bruce's personal qualities, not least his remarkable empathy with blind and partially sighted people in all walks of life, it will also be compelling reading for those like myself, activists campaigning for the improvements he did so much to bring about.

" Fred Reid, Hon. Professor of History, University of Warwick and long-time trustee of RNIB "Having a strong interest in the work of charities of and for the blind and partially sighted, I found the book fascinating on three fronts: the leaps and bounds that the charity sector experienced in the 40-year period, the internal debates and animosities that took time and societal nudges to resolve, and finally the international/national link for campaigning and political and social change." Pay Danahey Janin, University of Essex, Colchester, Uk, In Insternational Society for Third Sector Research (Voluntas), March, 2024.