Writings on Britain

Leon Trotsky’s Writings on Britain span one of the most tumultuous periods in British history. The first decades of the 20th century were a time of crisis on all fronts for British capitalism. The country was rapidly sinking to a second-rate position among the world powers. Violent eruptions of class struggle shook capitalist rule to its very foundations. Amidst all this, the Marxists were striving to build a mass revolutionary party as the precondition of capitalism’s overthrow.

These writings were intended to assist the communists of the time to achieve their historic task. The same task is posed before us once more today. The thread of history is being re-tied, and Britain is once more moving towards revolutionary crises. This collection is indispensable for the Marxists who must rise to face this challenge.

Trotsky has a profound affinity for his subject, which he brings to bear on a remarkable range of questions: from the history, psychology, philosophy and morality of the British ruling class; to Britain’s revolutionary traditions going back to Chartism and the English Revolution; to the 1926 General Strike, and the questions of revolutionary strategy and tactics that the Marxists faced in the stormy decade of the 1930s.

This book includes all three volumes in a single edition, and features a new introduction by Rob Sewell, author of Chartist Revolution and In the Cause of Labour: A History of British Trade Unionism.