Two Steps Back

This book sets out a critical history of the Communist Party in Britain and of the Left more broadly. Its main concern is the party's relationship with the wider labour movement, and it asks why British Marxism did not manage a sustained dialogue with the mass organisations of workers.

Al Richardson takes up the question of why trade unions stayed with the Labour Party in the period he examines. His answer turns on the lack of a credible left alternative at the time, and on what was actually on offer to unionists. The book suits readers of labour and political history, students of British politics and anyone interested in the politics of the British Left.

Published by Merlin Press. ISBN-13: 9780850365993.