E. P. Thompson and English radicalism

Edited by Roger Fieldhouse, Richard Taylor

Publication date:

28 February 2014

Length of book:

272 pages

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Dimensions:

216x138mm

ISBN-13: 9780719088216

This collection of essays marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of E. P. Thompson’s most famous book, The Making of the English Working Class. It was a highly influential work which contributed significantly to a revolution in the way history was studied, not only in Britain but in many countries. Instead of viewing history solely in terms of kings, courtiers, aristocrats and politicians, historians began to consider the perspective of the common people.

E. P. Thompson and English radicalism gathers together a selection of leading authors from a diverse range of disciplines to critically review not only this pivotal work, but the wide range of his career, including his experience as an adult educator, writer, poet and critic. His involvement in the early New Left, his political theories, his socialist humanism and his concept of class are all interrogated fully. Thompson was also a notable and passionate political polemicist, peace campaigner and activist who saw all his public activity as complementary parts of a unified whole, and this collection aims to bring his ideas to the attention of a new generation of students, scholars and activists.

1. E.P. Thompson: a short introduction – Roger Fieldhouse, Theodore Koditschek and Richard Taylor
Part One: Adult education, history and literature
2. Thompson: the adult educator – Roger Fieldhouse
3. The making of The Making – David Goodway
4. The possibilities of theory: Thompson’s Marxist history – Theodore Koditschek
5. The uses of literature: Thompson as writer, reader and critic – Luke Spencer
Part Two: Policy, theory and peace campaigns
6. Thompson and socialist humanism – Kate Soper
7. Thompson’s concept of class: the flesh and blood of self-emancipation – Nina Power
8. Thompson and the early new left – Michael Newman
9. Thompson and the Peace Movement: from CND in the 1950s and 1960s to END in the 1980s – Richard Taylor
Part Three: E.P.Thompson: an overview
10. Paradox and the Thompson ‘School of Awkwardness – Bryan D Palmer
Afterword
Appendix: Thompson’s writing style
Select Bibliography
Other sources
Index

Intellectually exploratory and written with admirable clarity, E.P.Thompson and English radicalism achieves the almost impossible: it does justice to a great historical thinker and practitioner who also wrote poetry, loved liberty, hated humbug and resisted the inner and the outer hold of capital over human existence and experience. It illuminates a valiant, many-sided, quizzical friend of the people for readers who know his work and for those yet to discover his writing.'
Sheila Rowbotham, author of 'Dreamers of a New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century' (2010)

'This eloquent set of essays manages to address, both sympathetically and critically, the many and varied aspects of Thompson’s life, as a historian, a teacher, a poet, a political activist, a Marxist and libertarian, and an Englishman and a cosmopolitan. Thompson’s legacy is hugely relevant for the troubled times in which we now live.'
Mary Kaldor, The London School of Economics and Political Science

"A major book on Edward Thompson, who died 20 years ago, is an important reminder of the loss of English radicalism and the need to revive it"
(Michael Barratt Brown, The Spokesman, 124, 2014)

"If adult education for social change and the pursuit of social justice sometimes feels like an idea that got lost along the way, this collection reminds us that there is nothing inevitable about this, and that people with passion and agency, committed to listening,learning and teaching, as Thompson was, can and do make a difference."
(Alan Tuckett; Adults Learning, July 2014)

"In the current swamp of neoliberal ideology and bankrupt 'coalition' politics, it's good to be reminded of other, more hopeful, possibilities."

(Sir Peter Scott, Times Higher Education Supplement, July 2014)

...this collection of essays explores in some detail the diverse range of activities and interests of this 'passionate and romantic polymath.