Comrade or brother?

A history of the British labour movement(second edition), Mary Davis, Pluto Press, 304 pages, paperback, £11.99

Mary Davis was until recently a professor at London Metropolitan University and is a longstanding figure in the labour movement. This book, revised and expanded, provides an overview of 200 years of British labour history. While the original edition finished in 1951, this edition adds a chapter to 1979. The virtues of the book are two–fold. Firstly, it is a more fully rounded working class history, including the voices of women, black workers and migrant workers that are missing from many standard academic accounts. It illustrates the richness and diversity of working class history, showing that the labour movement has a progressive tradition of fighting for equality. This is an important counter to those who dismiss unions as the preserve of old, white males.

Secondly, it explains how the course of labour movement history has been determined not only by the twists of turns of British industrial capitalism, but also by the contested ideologies and strategies of its participants.

The book highlights how different conceptions of the world and the role of workers within it — from Labourism to communism — as well as different views of trade unionism, have been influential in shaping the course of struggles.