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Reclaiming the People’s War

By: Elinor Taylor

Though it has recently become a byword for reactionary nostalgia, the Second World War was in certain crucial ways an extension of the ‘Red Decade’ of the 1930s. A modern anti-fascist Left must reclaim this inheritance — and avoid its shortcomings.

The 'Artists Ambulance' on display at Palace Yard, London, before being sent to the civil war in Spain. (Photo by Reg Speller / Fox Photos / Getty Images)

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In the crisis-ridden autumn of 1936, the communist poet and critic Edgell Rickword wrote an editorial for the magazine Left Review: The sincerity of our protests at fascist brutalities can only be measured by the strength of our efforts to secure the right of the colonial peoples to govern themselves. And, as practical people, let […]

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In the crisis-ridden autumn of 1936, the communist poet and critic Edgell Rickword wrote an editorial for the magazine Left Review: The sincerity of our protests at fascist brutalities can only be measured by the strength of our efforts to secure the right of the colonial peoples to govern themselves. And, as practical people, let […]

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In the crisis-ridden autumn of 1936, the communist poet and critic Edgell Rickword wrote an editorial for the magazine Left Review: The sincerity of our protests at fascist brutalities can only be measured by the strength of our efforts to secure the right of the colonial peoples to govern themselves. And, as practical people, let […]

In the crisis-ridden autumn of 1936, the communist poet and critic Edgell Rickword wrote an editorial for the magazine Left Review: The sincerity of our protests at fascist brutalities can only be measured by the strength of our efforts to secure the right of the colonial peoples to govern themselves. And, as practical people, let […]

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