Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist and the only independent elected to the U.S. Congress in the last 40 years. As such, he faces a unique set of challenges—from the absence of campaign support from a national party machine to the lack of a structure that allows him to gain leadership positions on House committees. Outsider In The House chronicles those challenges and more, all the while serving as a political biography, a campaign diary, and a full-blown mission statement. These aren't pie-in-the-sky rantings from a guy on the lefty-lunatic fringe; Sanders articulately outlines ways to improve the lives of poor and disenfranchised people while attempting to justify such unpopular positions as his opposition to the Gulf War. Naturally, there's plenty of self-congratulation, as well; he takes credit for cutting tens of millions of dollars in miltary pork and for drastically increasing voter turnout in Burlington, Vermont, during his eight-year tenure as the city's mayor. The book also documents Sanders' credibility problems in Washington and in the media, his political successes and failures, his struggles with an uncooperative voice, his reasons for endorsing a wishy-washy centrist president, the importance of grassroots campaigning, and the many untold hassles of political life as both an independent and a mainstream elected official. Outsider In The House is a rare achievement: a concise, compelling book that both tells an interesting story and provides a readable, down-to-earth blueprint for progressive change. You quickly learn that, whether or not you agree with his positions, you know where Sanders stands on most issues. And in an age in which more and more politicians determine their opinions based on focus groups and media polls, that's refreshing in and of itself. So is Outsider In The House.