At the beginning of the 21st century, science and philosophy are at the crossroads. The achievements of science and technology in the previous century are unparalleled in history. They provide the potential for the solution of all the problems faced by the planet, and equally for its total destruction. Allegedly scientific theories are being used to "prove" that criminality is caused, not by social conditions, but by a "criminal gene." Black people are alleged to be disadvantaged, not because of discrimination, but because of their genetic make-up. Similar arguments are used for poor people, single mothers, women, and so on. Of course, such "science" is highly convenient for right wing politicians intent on ruthlessly cutting welfare. In the field of theoretical physics and cosmology there is a growing tendency towards mysticism. The "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe is being used to justify the existence of a Creator, as in the book of Genesis. For the first time in centuries, science appears to lend credence to religious obscurantism. Yet that is only one side of the story. A growing number of scientists are becoming discontented with the old outlook. The rapid rise of the theory of chaos and complexity is one of the most significant developments in science at the present time. Many of the ideas expressed by this new trend are strikingly similar to the theories of dialectical materialism worked out by Marx and Engels over 160 years ago. A significant part of this present work is devoted to an explanation of the relationship between Marxist philosophy and the new theories. Will this encounter provide the basis for a new and exciting breakthrough in the methodology of science?

In 2007, French fascist Le Pen won almost four million votes. In 2009 the British National Party won almost a million votes while Germany's fascist NPD won over 750,000. In 2010, fascist-led organisations like the Engish Defence League and Italy's Future and Freedom party emerged. To help activists understand this twenty-first century wave of fascism, this book gathers together the most important analyses from the 20th century.In "Building unity against fascism" you can read: * German socialist Clara Zetkin, Bolshevik leader Karl Radek and Italian communist Antonio Gramsci on the birth on fascism in the early 1920s* Leon Trotsky's article, including "Fascism: What It Is and How To Fight It," explaining why neither capitalist nor Stalinist parties were able to stop fascism in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 1930s.* Maurice Spector's detailed analysis of German fascism in power* Daniel Guerin's 1939 "Fascism and Big Business" and his 1945 preface to its French edition* Ted Grant's booklet, "The Menace of Fascism," which discussed British fascism, the second World War and the Jewish community in Britain* Analysis by Felix Morrow, James P Cannon and Farrell Dobbs of the rise and fall of fascist organisations in the USA in the 20th century.

Felix Morrow's book, written in the white heat of the struggle, remains a Marxist classic on the Spanish Civil War. The 1930s was a period of revolution and counter-revolution in which Spain was at the very epicenter of events. It remains the clearest account of the movement of the Spanish proletariat, which took power in Catalonia, but was betrayed by the Popular Front government. It describes the heroic struggles waged by the workers and peasants, which, in the words of Leon Trotsky could have carried through ten revolutions. Morrow describes in detail the failure of the anarchists, whose leaders entered the bourgeois government, as well as that of the POUM, the centrist party of the revolution. In particular, the book describes the role of the Stalinists, who under the orders of Moscow supported the bourgeois republic's suppression of the revolution. In the wake of the Moscow frame-up trials, the GPU, Stalin's secret police, sent agents to Spain to murder Spanish revolutionaries, which prepared the way for the eventual victory of Franco. Few books of the period have stood the test of time better than Morrow's, supplemented in this edition by an earlier article, The Civil War in Spain. We also include a foreword by Ted Grant written in 1973, which covers the same periods and provides a valuable addition to this work. A study of these tragic events will help arm a new generation of workers and youth with the lessons of the bitter defeats of the 1930s and equip them with the knowledge to finally carry through the struggle began so many years ago. In the great words of Spinoza, "ours is not to laugh or to weep, but to learn."

A collection of the writings of Ted Grant (1913-2006) covering the period from the 1930s up to the middle of the Second World War.

This is the second volume of Ted Grant's Writings, which covers the period from 1943 to the end of the Second World War in 1945, when he was involved in establishing the genuine forces of Trotskyism in Britain. As editor of the Socialist Appeal and political secretary of the Workers' International League, he became the principal theoretician of the British Trotskyist movement and drafted its main documents and resolutions throughout this period. Ted's participation in the revolutionary movement was to span a period from 1928, when he was introduced to Marxism, through to his death in 2006. For all those who knew him, he was a truly remarkable and inspiring figure. The articles and documents contained in this second volume of his Writings coincided with the emergence of WIL as one of the most successful Trotskyist groups in the world. In 1944 it fused with the remains of the old Revolutionary Socialist League to form the Revolutionary Communist Party, and was recognised as the official section of the Fourth International in Britain. The first two volumes cover a decisive period in history. It was the most testing time for British and world Trotskyism. As Hitler occupied Europe, the WIL was alone on the continent in applying the proletarian military policy that had been outlined by Trotsky. This it managed to do in the most successful fashion, allowing the WIL to establish an important proletarian base. By the end of the war, revolutionary events had swept Europe, as Trotsky had predicted, but were derailed by the Stalinists and social democrats. The writings in this book constitute an essential and rich part of the theoretical heritage of Marxism, which can serve to educate the new generation of workers and youth who are entering into political activity at this time of deep capitalist crisis.