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The Case for Communism
As publishers we have no politics. Some time ago we invited a Labour M.P. and a Conservative M.P. to affirm the faith and policy of the two principle parties and they did so in two books - 'Labour Marches On', by John Parker, M.P., and 'The Case for Conservatism', by Quintin Hogg, M.P. To that pair we now add this statement of Communist principles and policies.
Whether we like it or not Communism is one of the major political forces in the modern world and the basis of government in many sovereign states. It therefore seems proper to the Publishers of Penguin Books that a statement of the Case for Communism should be added to the volumes on Labour and Conservatism which have already appeared in this series. Mr William Gallacher, one of the two Communist M.P.s in the present House of Commons, is an uncompromising partisan, and does not conceal his intention of presenting Communism as the final solution of the world's predicament. Readers must judge for themselves how far his case is based upon objective analysis, and how far coloured by partisanship.
The book falls broadly into four main division. In the first the author examines the Marxist philosophy, on which Communism is based, and proceeds from this summary to recount the development of Communism as a militant political party. His third section is, so to speak, a balance-sheet in which Capitalism is written off as a total liability, while Communism is proclaimed, on the basis of its achievements in Russia and Eastern Europe, as the only profitable investment for the workers of the world. Finally Mr Gallacher considers the condition of Britain to-day and endeavours to show that only a Communist policy can save us from bankruptcy.
This vigorous and self-confident book, like its Labour and Conservative companions, is a declaration of a party-line in current politics, and must be read with the caution which all propaganda should rouse in the rational reader. The main thing to remember, whether or not we find its arguments and assertions convincing whether it is whole-truth, half-truth or no-truth, is that this is what Communism in Great Britain stands for to-day.
Whether we like it or not Communism is one of the major political forces in the modern world and the basis of government in many sovereign states. It therefore seems proper to the Publishers of Penguin Books that a statement of the Case for Communism should be added to the volumes on Labour and Conservatism which have already appeared in this series. Mr William Gallacher, one of the two Communist M.P.s in the present House of Commons, is an uncompromising partisan, and does not conceal his intention of presenting Communism as the final solution of the world's predicament. Readers must judge for themselves how far his case is based upon objective analysis, and how far coloured by partisanship.
The book falls broadly into four main division. In the first the author examines the Marxist philosophy, on which Communism is based, and proceeds from this summary to recount the development of Communism as a militant political party. His third section is, so to speak, a balance-sheet in which Capitalism is written off as a total liability, while Communism is proclaimed, on the basis of its achievements in Russia and Eastern Europe, as the only profitable investment for the workers of the world. Finally Mr Gallacher considers the condition of Britain to-day and endeavours to show that only a Communist policy can save us from bankruptcy.
This vigorous and self-confident book, like its Labour and Conservative companions, is a declaration of a party-line in current politics, and must be read with the caution which all propaganda should rouse in the rational reader. The main thing to remember, whether or not we find its arguments and assertions convincing whether it is whole-truth, half-truth or no-truth, is that this is what Communism in Great Britain stands for to-day.
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1949
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About the author
William Gallacher
31 books1 followerWilliam Gallacher was a Scottish trade unionist, activist and communist. Born in the Irish ghetto of Sneddon in Paisley, he was one of the leading figures of the Shop Stewards' Movement in wartime Glasgow (the 'Red Clydeside' period) and a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He served two terms in the House of Commons as the last Communist Member of Parliament (MP).
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