What do you think?
Rate this book
The Death of Uncle Jo
An exploration into the impact of the Stalinist purges on the lives, families and contacts of members of the British Communist Party.
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
8 people want to read
About the author
Alison MacLeod
13 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Alison Macleod, TV critic for the Daily Worker (1956) was born 12 April 1920. She is the daughter of Winifred Fairfield, one of 3 suffragette sisters, her sisters being Dr Letitia Fairfield and Cicily Isabel Fairfield (better known as Rebecca West). Alison was educated at Westcliffe High School for Girls and then at various art schools.
Joined Unity Theatre 1938 and then the Communist Party. She wanted to become a writer. She held various roles during the war: 1939, women's land army; 1941, ambulance attendant for Bristol civil defence; 1942, shipyard welder.
In 1944 she joined the staff of the Daily Worker (The Communist Party's daily newspaper) and remained there for 12 years. The story of her parting with the paper in 1956 is written in her book, The Death of Uncle Joe.
She has written 6 historical novels: The Heretics (London, 1965); The Trusted Servant (London, 1972); No Need of the Sun (London, 1971); The Muscovite (London, 1971); The Jesuit (London, 1972) and The Portingale (London, 1976). She later worked on other newspapers: The Times Business News and Euromoney.
Married (1) James Hackshaw in 1945; (2) Jack Selford in 1950. She has one daughter to each husband.
Alison Macleod, TV critic for the Daily Worker (1956) was born 12 April 1920. She is the daughter of Winifred Fairfield, one of 3 suffragette sisters, her sisters being Dr Letitia Fairfield and Cicily Isabel Fairfield (better known as Rebecca West). Alison was educated at Westcliffe High School for Girls and then at various art schools.
Joined Unity Theatre 1938 and then the Communist Party. She wanted to become a writer. She held various roles during the war: 1939, women's land army; 1941, ambulance attendant for Bristol civil defence; 1942, shipyard welder.
In 1944 she joined the staff of the Daily Worker (The Communist Party's daily newspaper) and remained there for 12 years. The story of her parting with the paper in 1956 is written in her book, The Death of Uncle Joe.
She has written 6 historical novels: The Heretics (London, 1965); The Trusted Servant (London, 1972); No Need of the Sun (London, 1971); The Muscovite (London, 1971); The Jesuit (London, 1972) and The Portingale (London, 1976). She later worked on other newspapers: The Times Business News and Euromoney.
Married (1) James Hackshaw in 1945; (2) Jack Selford in 1950. She has one daughter to each husband.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 21, 2020
Fascinating eye witness account of the interior life of the CPGB at a critical moment in its history. Would recommend to people with a good pre-existing knowledge of the British Communist movement, as it will add lots of texture to the various official histories. Take note - this is the memoir of a ruthlessly disillusioned ex-Communist and it is absolutely laden with opinion, bias and conjecture, although much of it enlightening, thought provoking and revealing.
December 16, 2020
This is a pretty good and very intimate account of the way leftist Western European intellectuals came to be disenchanted with Stalinism.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews