1919

by Janine Booth

2019 is the centenary of the year in which British workers had probably their greatest opportunity to make a revolution. Inspired by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, British works took more strike action than ever before, servicemen and police mutinied, and Labour took strides forward electorally. But Communists in Britain had still not formed a united party, Labour's representation in Parliament was unfairly small and politically rubbish, and the trade unions were still dominated by bureaucrats. There were similar workers' mobilisations around Europe, rebellions in the British and other empires' colonies, and soviet republics declared in Bavaria, Hungary and elsewhere - all in the end defeated, but only in the end. Published to mark the centenary, this pamphlet tells the story of 1919, encouraging readers to imagine workers' revolution, to consider the consequences of settling for less - and to recognise the missing an organisation of revolutionaries.

Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Marxist, trade unionist, socialist-feminist, author, poet, speaker, tutor, former RMT Executive member.

She was part of the ranting poetry movement in the 1980s, she performed poetry under the name The Big J.

Reviews

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, engaging, and replete with lessons for today