Premised on the belief that a social and an ecological agenda are compatible, this collection offers readings in the ecology of left and radical writing from the Romantic period to the present. While early ecocriticism tended to elide the bitter divisions within and between societies, recent practitioners of ecofeminism, environmental justice, and social ecology have argued that the social, the economic and the environmental have to be seen as part of the same process. Taking up this challenge, the contributors trace the origins of an environmental sensibility and of the modern left to their roots in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, charting the ways in which the literary imagination responds to the political, industrial and agrarian revolutions. Topics include Samuel Taylor Coleridge's credentials as a green writer, the interaction between John Ruskin's religious and political ideas and his changing view of nature, William Morris and the Garden City movement, H. G. Wells and the Fabians, the devastated landscapes in the poetry and fiction of the First World War, and the leftist pastoral poetry of the 1930s. In historicizing and connecting environmentally sensitive literature with socialist thought, these essays explore the interactive vision of nature and society in the work of writers ranging from William Wordsworth and John Clare to John Berger and John Burnside.

Premised on the belief that a social and an ecological agenda are compatible, this collection offers readings in the ecology of left and radical writing from the Romantic period to the present. While early ecocriticism tended to elide the bitter divisions within and between societies, recent practitioners of ecofeminism, environmental justice, and social ecology have argued that the social, the economic and the environmental have to be seen as part of the same process. Taking up this challenge, the contributors trace the origins of an environmental sensibility and of the modern left to their roots in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, charting the ways in which the literary imagination responds to the political, industrial and agrarian revolutions. Topics include Samuel Taylor Coleridge's credentials as a green writer, the interaction between John Ruskin's religious and political ideas and his changing view of nature, William Morris and the Garden City movement, H. G. Wells and the Fabians, the devastated landscapes in the poetry and fiction of the First World War, and the leftist pastoral poetry of the 1930s. In historicizing and connecting environmentally sensitive literature with socialist thought, these essays explore the interactive vision of nature and society in the work of writers ranging from William Wordsworth and John Clare to John Berger and John Burnside.

One of the most powerful and provocative writers to have emerged in Britain in recent years, James Kelman has engendered a good deal of controversy over his widely reported, but often misconceived use of 'bad' language words. This introduction to the whole range of his works, from the early short stories through the plays and essays to the Booker Prize winning novel How Late it Was, How Late and the latest experimental fiction, examines the embattled Kelman's literary politics. H. Gustav Klaus pays close attention to the Scottish culture in which Kelman's writing was nurtured, to the uncompromising treatment of the 'underclass', the intricacies of the narrative voice and the existentialist anguish behind it. A writer of international reputation now, Kelman's principled anti-authoritarianism raises uncomfortable questions about the continuing reality of class, dominant social and literary values and the role of writers in our time.

This innovative work is established as the substantive exploration of the literary endeavours of working people and socialists over 200 years.H. Gustav Klaus challenges the complacent assumptions about working class and socialist literature as merely a "symptom", arguing that the literature of labour is an integral part of the historical development of the working class and deserves much closer attention.This work breaks away from the 'Great Tradition' and in revealing the rich source of creativity within the literature of labour, introduces an alternative tradition of English literature.

Leading scholars combine here a sustained attempt to trace the growth of socialist fiction in the crucial period of the formation of the modern British labour movement.While the importance of the long-neglected literary tradition is now recognised, no other studies have been as comprehensive as this collection. The essays here go beyond the limited concentration on slum fiction which long characterised studies.The remit of this work is the exploration of the emergence of the alternative tradition in English literature, the relationship between socialist fiction and the mainstream. The work also connects the British contribution with the European socialist novel.

This pioneering work traces the history of the socialist novel, covering 150 years of creative writing.It spans the hopes and aspirations of the Chartist writers in Britain and the modern variety of ideological and literary positions of socialist intellectuals.The major conceptual and individual developments are carefully analysed, and the work brings together essays by such distinguished writers as Raymond Williams, John Goode, Raymon Ortega and Marsha Vicinus.It proves a framework for wider discussion, situating the socialist novel in the overall framework of English literature.

Leading scholars combine here a sustained attempt to trace the growth of socialist fiction in the crucial period of the formation of the modern British labour movement.While the importance of the long-neglected literary tradition is now recognised, no other studies have been as comprehensive as this collection. The essays here go beyond the limited concentration on slum fiction which long characterised studies.The remit of this work is the exploration of the emergence of the alternative tradition in English literature, the relationship between socialist fiction and the mainstream. The work also connects the British contribution with the European socialist novel.

One of the most powerful and provocative writers to have emerged in Britain in recent years, James Kelman has engendered a good deal of controversy over his widely reported, but often misconceived use of 'bad' language words. This introduction to the whole range of his works, from the early short stories through the plays and essays to the Booker Prize winning novel How Late it Was, How Late and the latest experimental fiction, examines the embattled Kelman's literary politics. H. Gustav Klaus pays close attention to the Scottish culture in which Kelman's writing was nurtured, to the uncompromising treatment of the 'underclass', the intricacies of the narrative voice and the existentialist anguish behind it. A writer of international reputation now, Kelman's principled anti-authoritarianism raises uncomfortable questions about the continuing reality of class, dominant social and literary values and the role of writers in our time.

This innovative work is established as the substantive exploration of the literary endeavours of working people and socialists over 200 years.H. Gustav Klaus challenges the complacent assumptions about working class and socialist literature as merely a "symptom", arguing that the literature of labour is an integral part of the historical development of the working class and deserves much closer attention.This work breaks away from the 'Great Tradition' and in revealing the rich source of creativity within the literature of labour, introduces an alternative tradition of English literature.

This pioneering work traces the history of the socialist novel, covering 150 years of creative writing.It spans the hopes and aspirations of the Chartist writers in Britain and the modern variety of ideological and literary positions of socialist intellectuals.The major conceptual and individual developments are carefully analysed, and the work brings together essays by such distinguished writers as Raymond Williams, John Goode, Raymon Ortega and Marsha Vicinus.It proves a framework for wider discussion, situating the socialist novel in the overall framework of English literature.

It is at last being recognized that, contrary to common understanding, there were working-class women poets in the nineteenth century. Yet this growing awareness is rarely accompanied by a sustained engagement with their poetry. Painstaking research into the life and work of an author remains constricted to the Brownings and Rossettis of both sexes. The present study breaks with this academic habit. It is the first critical biography of the Glaswegian writer who signed her poems as 'The Factory Girl'. It is an essay in recovery and exploration, situating Ellen Johnston at the intersection of gender, class and nation. It documents her range of subjects, styles and voices. The book is concluded by a selection of Ellen Johnston's verse.