Them and us

Fighting the class war 1910-1939

John Newsinger, Bookmarks, 198 pages, £7.99

The period from 1910 to 1939 was one of the most explosive in British working class history.Them and us looks at how the class struggle — embracing the struggles of women workers, immigrant workers, the unemployed and the fight against fascism — was fought in these years.

Newsinger begins by looking at the Great Unrest before the First World War, which saw 41 million strike days at its height in 1912.Workers who had never been organised, such as the women chain makers, fought back. 

But these struggles reached their crescendo in 1913-14 with the dockers’ strike and Dublin Lockout. They were sold out by the movement’s leaders.

Today, when the working class is under a sustained and unprecedented attack from the Tories, the book is an essential reminder of how past struggles were fought and of the need for militancy and solidarity.

John Newsinger draws on the words and actions of working class activists — and of their enemies — to bring to life key episodes in the struggle.

Reviews contributed by the Bookmarks socialist bookshop.

Order online at www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk