The Chronology of Revolution

382 Pages·2020·3.944 MB·English

by  Ben Harker

THE CHRONOLOGY OF REVOLUTION
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T H E
, ,
communism culture
C H R O N O LO GY

and civil society in
O F
-
twentieth century britain
R E V O L U T I O N

b e n h a r k e r
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press 2021
Toronto Buffalo London
utorontopress.com
Printed in the U.S.A.

ISBN 978-1-4875-0739-8 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-4875-3616-9 (EPUB)
ISBN 978-1-4875-3615-2 (PDF)

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: The chronology of revolution : communism, culture, and civil society in
twentieth-century Britain / Ben Harker.
Names: Harker, Ben, author.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200346172 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200346180 |
ISBN 9781487507398 (cloth) | ISBN 9781487536169 (EPUB) |
ISBN 9781487536152 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Communist Party of Great Britain – History – 20th century. |
LCSH: Communism – Great Britain – History – 20th century. |
LCSH: Political parties – Great Britain – History – 20th century.
Classification: LCC JN1129.C62 H37 2021 | DDC 324.241/09750904 – dc23
Every effort was made to discover and contact the photographers who took
the photos included in this book; if anyone believes they should be credited,
University of Toronto Press and the author will be happy to do so in future
printings or editions of the book.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing
program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council,
an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Funded by the Financé par le
Government gouvernement
of Canada du Canada
For Rosa
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 3
1 The Chronology of Revolution, 1920–1940 13
2 Constructive Communists, 1940–1947 38
3 The British Road to Socialism, 1947–1956 76
4 The Struggle for Renewal, 1956–1968 109
5 The Spectre of Eurocommunism, 1968–1979 149
Conclusion 201
Notes 207
Index 351
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Illustrations
Party propaganda machine, 1920s 14
Communist Pioneers in Birmingham, 1920s 14
Home Front journal, 1942 44
Second Front rally, Trafalgar Square, 1942 45
Student recruitment leaflet, 1946 64
The British Road to Socialism (1951) 79
Communist-refashioned billboard advertising Mighty Joe Young (1949) 98
Barbara Niven addressing a street meeting, early 1950s 101
Activist selling Arena at Sadler’s Wells, London, 1951 102
Communists protest against racism in Notting Hill, late 1950s 127
Communists in Ilford basking in the reflected glory of the Soviet
Sputnik launch, 1957 130
Communists with membership cards, 1958 130
Arnold Kettle, Alan Bush, Lindsay Anderson, and John Berger, 1960s 134
Young Communist League activists in Manchester during the
December 1963 by-election 139
The Beatles in Challenge, December 1963 142
Handbill for The Trend Young Communist League recruitment
drive, 1967 143
Poster for Communist Women’s Struggle event, London, 1975 160
Poster for Communist University of London, 1977 169
Granada Television filming the 1977 Congress for Decision: British
Communism 189
The Communist Party stall at the Glastonbury Festival, 1984 198