The Revolutionary Movement in Britain 1900–21. The Origins of British Communism

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Published Jul 2025

Walter Kendall

Volume Editors: John McIlroy and Paul Flewers
Kendall’s classic work has been widely appreciated for its rich contextualisation of the events and forensic examination of both the national and international factors influencing the nativity of the British Communist Party. It imaginatively recuperates and critically evaluates the politics of the party’s predecessors, notably the British Socialist Party and the Socialist Labour Party, the radical upsurge of 1910–14, the wartime shop-stewards movement, the resonance of the Russian Revolution, and the role of the Comintern in moulding the form that British Communism took. Vivid portraits of the human actors — H M Hyndman, John Maclean, Arthur MacManus and Theodore Rothstein — illuminate the text. First published in 1969, The Revolutionary Movement in Britain has stood the test of time. It remains indispensable reading for everyone interested in understanding socialist history. John McIlroy has provided a detailed Introduction to this republication.

Biographical Note

Walter Kendall (1926–2003), PhD Oxon 1966, author The Revolutionary Movement in Britain 1900–21 (1969), The Labour Movement in Europe (1975), and many papers and articles.

Paul Flewers, PhD London 2003, author The New Civilisation? Understanding Stalin’s Soviet Union 1929–41 (2008).

John McIlroy has taught at the Universities of Oxford and Keele. He is a visiting professor of employment relations at Middlesex University and has written extensively on labour history, industrial relations and labour law.

Readership

This book is especially relevant for academics and postgraduate students of politics, political and labor history, communist studies, and anyone interested in radical history, including academics, students, and activists.

Table of Contents

Forthcoming