First published in 1977. This book describes the growth of revolutionary organisations in Britain from 1900 onwards. It shows that there was an indigenous movement that developed quite independently from the left in other countries, although its basic outlook was remarkably similar to that of the Bolsheviks in Russia. The study concentrates the activities of the Socialist Labour Party, a small group of dedicated revolutionaries, whose impact on working-class politics had not been fully recognised. The most controversial section of the book deals with the Russian influence on the machinations that led to the formation of the British Communist Party. It is critical of Lenin, who sometimes gave advice on the basis of insufficient knowledge, and of Comitern agents, like Theodore Rothstein, with dubious political backgrounds. This title will be of great interest to students of politics, philosophy, and history.

First published in 1977. This book describes the growth of revolutionary organisations in Britain from 1900 onwards. It shows that there was an indigenous movement that developed quite independently from the left in other countries, although its basic outlook was remarkably similar to that of the Bolsheviks in Russia. The study concentrates the activities of the Socialist Labour Party, a small group of dedicated revolutionaries, whose impact on working-class politics had not been fully recognised. The most controversial section of the book deals with the Russian influence on the machinations that led to the formation of the British Communist Party. It is critical of Lenin, who sometimes gave advice on the basis of insufficient knowledge, and of Comitern agents, like Theodore Rothstein, with dubious political backgrounds. This title will be of great interest to students of politics, philosophy, and history.

‘The name of Roberts became a terror to the mineowners ... such was the dread of this ‘lightning attorney general’, who seemed to be everywhere at once’ - Friedrich EngeIs, The Condition of the Working Classes. W. P Roberts (1806-1871) was a founder and leading member of the Chartist movement. He was the first lawyer to campaign on behalf of labour, and to use the judicial system to defend workers’ rights. His efforts on behalf of the miners earned him the title ‘the miners’ attorney’. In the 1840s and 1850s his fame throughout the north of England made him the subject of popular ballads. Though he was never a socialist, he acted as solicitor to Marx and Engels. In addition to providing a splendid portrait of W. P Roberts, this book casts new light on the position of working people in Victorian society, on the development of trade unions, on Chartism and the co-operative movement, and on industrial law. It deals in detail with the Victorian authorities’ extraordinary efforts to control social unrest - the use of agents provocateurs, police informers, and manipulation of the judicial process. It also covers the beginnings of Irish terrorism in the Manchester Martyrs and Clerkenwell Explosion cases, as well as the creation of a legal framework to deal with it.