Volume 50 part 2 (August 2005)
Bibliography
General Issues
Continents and Countries
- Africa
South Africa - America
Canada | United States of America - Asia
India | Iran | Israel | Japan | North Korea - Europe
Eire - Ireland | France | Germany | Great Britain | The Netherlands | Poland | Russia - USSR | Spain | Switzerland
Book descriptions consist of: author, title, publisher, place and year of publication, number of pages, original price; followed by a brief summary of the contents.
All listed books are available in the IISH library.
General Issues
SOCIAL THEORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCEThe Blackwell Companion to Major Classical Social Theorists. Ed. by George Ritzer. Blackwell, Oxford [etc.] 2003. viii, 436 pp. £17.99.
The Blackwell Companion to Major Contemporary Social Theorists. Ed. by George Ritzer. Blackwell, Oxford [etc.] 2003. xiii, 362 pp. £17.99.
These two volumes aim to offer a comprehensive overview of classical and contemporary social theory by presenting original essays on twelve classical social theorists and thirteen contemporary social theorists. Contributors deal with the social and intellectual context of the theorists' writings and analyse their impact over time, balancing systematic treatment of theorists with personal interpretations of their work. The volume on classical social theorists includes essays on Auguste Comte (Mary Pickering), Karl Marx (Robert J. Antonio), Max Weber (Stephen Kalberg) and W.E.B. Du Bois (Charles Lemert); the volume on contemporary social theorists features contributions on authors including Robert K. Merton (Piotr Sztompka), Daniel Bell (Malcolm Walters), Norbert Elias (Richard Kilminster and Stephen Mennell), Michel Foucault (Barry Smart), Pierre Bourdieu (Craig Calhoun) and Judith Butler (Patricia T. Clough).
Geschichte schreiben mit Foucault. Hrsg. von Jürgen Martschukat. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt [etc.] 2002. 287 pp. € 34.90; S.fr. 58.60.
The eleven contributions to this volume, based on a colloquium organized in Hamburg in October 2001, explore several aspects in the work of Michel Foucault - the concepts of discourse, power and the subject - to analyse how Foucault's theoretical and analytical system can enrich historiography, especially German historiography. In addition to the editor, the contributors include Ulrich Brieler, Claudia Bruns, Hannelore Bublitz, Martin Dinges, Norbert Finzsch, Susanne Krasmann, Maren Möhring, Philipp Sarasin, Olaf Stieglitz and Heiko Stoff.
McMahon, Peter. Global Control. Information Technology and Globalization since 1845. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham [etc.] 2002. v, 192 pp. £55.00.
This study aims to examine the long-term process of economic globalization by focusing on the crucial role of information and control technologies. Identifying the key phases of modern globalization from 1845 onward, Dr McMahon argues that information systems and control technologies not only facilitate the overall trend toward spatial reorganization but also effectuate change, through the pervasive influence of "internal systems logic", within the dominant institutions of states, firms and markets themselves.
Socialism. Critical Concepts in Political Science. Ed. by Jeremy Jennings. Vol. I-IV. Routledge, London [etc.] 2003. xxiii, 382 pp.; x, 548 pp.; viii, 343 pp.; viii, 510 pp. £475.00.
This four-volume collection comprises reprints of 84 historical and conceptual articles and chapters on socialist thought and practice over the last two hundred years. The collection opens with a general introduction by the editor and the two-part seminal essay by G.D.H. Cole, "What is socialism?" (1953), and features essays all from English-language sources, published between 1948 and 2000. The essays are ordered around the following thematic fields: the origins of socialism; utopian socialism; the origins of Marxism; Karl Marx and the science of history; Marxism and the state; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; the crisis of Marxism; Marxism-Leninism; the revolution betrayed (on Trotskyism); socialism and feminism; socialism and democracy; socialism and violence; socialism and economics, socialism and nationalism; socialism and ethics; socialism and social democracy; socialism in America; socialism outside Europe and America; and new directions.
Young, Robert J.C. Postcolonialism. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford [etc.] 2003. 180 pp. £6.99.
This small book aims to offer an introductory overview of postcolonial theory and ideas, as they have evolved in the second half of the twentieth century. Professor Young defines postcolonialism as a theory and politics of activism that contests the enduring global inequality and subordination of the former colonies. Examining the effects of decolonization, he analyses postcolonialism not as a coherent body of theory but as a set of often contradictory ideas and principles that present an alternative perspective on knowledge and scientific theory.
HISTORY
Addams, Jane, Emily G. Balch [and] Alice Hamilton. Women at The Hague. The International Congress of Women and Its Results. With an introduction by Harriet Hyman Alonso. University of Illinois Press, Urbana [etc.] 2003. xl, 91 pp. $24.95. (Paper: $12.95.)
This collection brings together seven essays by three social reformers and peace activists from the United States who attended the International Congress of Women held in The Hague from 28 April to 1 May 1915 to discuss proposals for a peaceful end of the war; Jane Addams (1860-1935), one of the founders of the Women's Peace Party; Emily Greene Balch (1867-1961); and Alice Hamilton (1869-1970). The essays, first published in 1915, are placed in their historical context by Professor Hyman Alonso. She provides short biographical introductions about the authors and analyses the discourse used by these women peace activists.
After the Imperial Turn. Thinking with and through the Nation. Ed. by Antoinette Burton. Duke University Press, Durham [etc.] 2003. ix, 369 pp. £18.95.
The twenty contributions to this collection investigate to what extent the nation remains central, adequate or even possible as an analytical category for studying history, in the light of the trend toward scholarship focused on imperialism and postcolonialism. While most contributions deal with British imperialism and its repercussions, the collection comprises essays on French, German, Spanish and US history and historiography as well. Issues dealt with include: how to resist the seduction of national narratives, what might replace the hegemony of the nation in historiography, and how even historiography interrogating the idea of the nation remains ideologically and methodologically indebted to national narratives.
Andreu, Maurice. L'Internationale communiste contre le Capital 1919-1924. Ou comment empoigner l'adversaire capitaliste? [Actuel Marx confrontation.] Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 2003. 315 pp. € 23.00.
This study describes and analyses in detail the ideological and strategic debates about the establishment and early years of the Third International, the Comintern, in the period 1917-1924. These debates, according to Dr Andreu, revolved around the "revolutionary hypothesis", the idea that the overthrow of capitalism by armed forces of the working class was becoming possible, based on the imperialism thesis, as elaborated, for example, by Lenin. The author aims to show that this revolutionary thesis disappeared with the death of Lenin, the defeat of Trotsky and the rise to power of Stalin.
Bourseiller, Christophe. Histoire générale de "l'ultra-gauche". Situationnistes, conseillistes, communistes de conseils, luxemburgistes, communistes de gauche, marxistes libertaires, communistes libertaires, anarchistes-communistes, néo-anarchistes, gauches communistes. Éditions Denoël, Paris 2003. 546 pp. € 25.00.
This general history of the ultra left focuses on the wide variety of oppositional groups and individuals to the left of mainstream communism, Trotskyism, Maoism and anarchism. Mr Bourseiller, who previously published a biography of Guy Debord (see IRSH, 45 (2000), pp. 352f.), reviews in chronological order a broad variety of currents, ideologies and ideologues, from leftist communism in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and France, including council communism and Spartacists, through "true" Trotskyists, anarcho-communists, leftist anarchists, "social barbarians", situationists to the neo-anarchists and autonomes of the late twentieth century.
Engerman, David C. Modernization from the Other Shore. American Intellectuals and the Romance of Russian Development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.) [etc.] 2003. vi, 399 pp. £32.95.
In this cultural and intellectual history, Professor Engerman explores the way American intellectuals and foreign policy experts understood the course of rapid industrialization in Russia and the Soviet Union from the end of the nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, and how they assessed and rationalized the enormous human costs involved. He analyses how intellectuals like George Kennan and Calvin Hoover interpreted Russian economic growth predominantly in terms of the Russian national character, thus condoning an economic policy that led to devastating famines.
Feinstein, Charles H. and Thomas, Mark. Making History Count. A Primer in Quantitative Methods for Historians. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xxi, 547 pp. Ill. £65.00; $85.00. (Paper: £21.95; $30.00.)
This textbook aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the main quantitative methods in historical research. Designed as a basic text, the emphasis is on intuitive understanding and application of the concepts, rather than on formal statistics, and only basic knowledge of mathematics is required. The quantitative techniques discussed are illustrated by applications in social, political, demographic and economic history. The authors describe how quantitative techniques can open up new aspects of historical enquiry and complement other research methods. The techniques presented are supported by four specific historical data sets that can be downloaded from http://uk.cambridge.org/resources/0521806631.
Goody, Jack. Capitalism and Modernity. The Great Debate. Polity, Cambridge [etc.] 2004. vii, 200 pp. £50.00; $56.95. (Paper: £14.99; $21.95.)
In this essayistic study, the well-known anthropologist Professor Goody provides a concise analysis of when and why Europe and Anglo-America started to surpass all other continents in socio-economic growth. Challenging recent theories attributing the rise of Europe and Anglo-America to "cultural" supremacy, he argues that the divergence came only with the Industrial Revolution, and that the earlier bourgeois revolution of the sixteenth century was very comparable with other forms of developing mercantile and manufacturing activity in the larger Eurasian regions.
Hautmann, Hans. Karl Marx - Friedrich Engels. Ein Vademekum über ihr Leben und Werk. [Quellen und Studien. Sonderband 1.] Alfred Klahr Gesellschaft, Wien 2001. 412 pp. € 15.00.
In this handbook on the lives and works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, a new edition of an original publication from 1999 and based on a series of lectures held at the University of Linz, Professor Hautmann aims to give an overview of Marx's and Engels's main writings and theories for a more general readership. He reviews the main biographical data to place their chief theoretical works in a broader historical context.
Kamiński, Antoni A. Apostoł prawdy i miłości. Filozoficzna młodość Michaiła Bakunina.Wydawnictwo Akademia ekonomicznej im. Oskara Langego we Wrocławiu, Wrocław 2004. 494 pp. Pln. 20.00.
This biography of Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876), entitled The apostle of truth and love. The philosophical youth of Mikhail Bakunin, addresses the period of his life until 1848. In the introduction the author reports that the book is intended as the first volume of a "biographical Bakunin trilogy". The second volume, "Podpalacz Evropy" (Incendiary of Europe), will review the period 1848-1863 and the third, "Herold wolnosci" (Herald of Freedom), the period 1864-1876. The work, which features an extensive bibliography, highlights Bakunin's relationship with Poland.
St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide. Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact. With Introductions by Willie Thompson and Daniel Nelson. Volume 1: A-M, Volume 2: N-Z. Ed. by Neil Schlager. St. James Press, Detroit [etc.] 2004. xxxix, 654 pp.; xxxix, 563 pp. Ill. $310.00.
This two-volume, richly illustrated encyclopaedia aims to provide a scholarly, encyclopaedic review of the US and international labour movement during the past two hundred years. Covering three hundred key events in labour history, two-thirds of the articles focus on US labour history and one-third on international history, with the international events chosen in particular for their relevance to larger social movements and their impact on the development of the labour movement in a country or region. The entries, selected by an international advisory board of expert labour historians, are arranged alphabetically by entry title, each listing the entry title, location and date; a synopsis; an in-depth discussion of the event and its impact; brief biographical notes on the key players in the event; a list of sources; and additional resources on the subject. There are two lengthy introductions, on internal labour history, by Willie Thompson, and on US labour history, by Daniel Nelson. The encyclopaedia also features a glossary of labour terms; a general chronology of key events in world history combined with important labour events; a list of suggested additional reading covering English-language sources on labour history; and a subject index.
COMPARATIVE HISTORY
Maiello, Adele. Sindacati in Europa. Storia, modelli, culture a confronto. Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2002. 411 pp. € 25.00.
In this comparative history of the trade union movement in Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, Professor Maiello bases himself on the intertwinement of contemporary history with the history of labour, workers and their institutions from the industrial revolution to the present and acknowledges the importance of the cultural traditions manifested in the aforesaid institutions. The book is divided into two sections. The first provides a rigidly structured chronological account of the rise of the labour movement in each individual country. The second presents a model of the industrial relationships in the countries concerned with their respective organizational idiosyncrasies.
CONTINENTS AND COUNTRIES
AFRICA
Agyeman, Opoku. The failure of Grassroots Pan-Africanism. The case of the All-African Trade Union Federation. Lexington, Lanham [etc.] 2003. xx, 371 pp. $125.00.
The All African Trade Union Federation (AATUF) was an effort to defend labour interests in Africa based on Pan-Africanism. Its lack of success was attributable to the adversarial relationships of the Cold War: the Moscow-oriented WFTU and the Western counterparts ICFTU and AFL/CIO competed with one another by using development aid and working with the AATUF. The consequence, according to the author of this study, was that African trade union confederations listened to their foreign sponsors rather than to their members. The second problem was the subjugation of labour to the political elites of independent Africa. In the end the AATUF lost credibility by hooking up with the WFTU on anti-imperialist grounds, thus ignoring the North-South dichotomy and the original Pan-Africanism.
Gibson, Nigel C. Fanon. The Postcolonial Imagination. [Key Contemporary Thinkers.] Polity, Oxford [etc.] 2003. xi, 252 pp. £14.99.
This biographical study of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) traces his ideas via his main publications. The confrontation with French colonialism and racism was decisive for his personal development. Born in colonial Martinique, he joined the Free French during World War II. After the war he studied psychiatry in Lyon and practised in Algiers but soon became entirely caught up in the Algerian war of liberation. He became the FLN representative in Ghana following Algeria's independence in 1957. Fanon's ideas revolve around the dehumanizing aspect of colonialism. Dr Gibson deals with the key concepts in Fanon's work: "négritude", nationalism, intellectuals at war and anti-colonial violence.
Sparreboom, Theo. Labour Market Information and Labour Market Policies in southern Africa. S.n., Rotterdam 2003. xii, 179 pp.
This dissertation (Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2003) addresses a twofold question: what information is necessary for labour market policy, and which information is already available. In addition to the general analysis, two cases are studied, the first an information system for education and training policy in South Africa and the second a general system in Lesotho. The author concludes that the chief problems with setting up such information systems are the vast informal sector and the weak institutions, and that the current systems offer reasonable accounts of the changes but are inadequate for evaluating and monitoring policy, in light of the inadequate institutional structure. Insufficient funding is available, and the informal sector remains difficult to describe in analytical terms.
South Africa
Beinart, William. The Rise of Conservation in South Africa. Settlers, Livestock, and the Environment 1770-1950. Oxford University Press, Oxford [etc.] 2003. xx, 425 pp. Ill. Maps. £65.00.
This history of the rise and development of conservationist ideas in South Africa from the middle of the nineteenth century onward focuses on the livestock farming districts of the semi-arid Karoo and the Eastern Cape grasslands. Professor Beinart traces the debates about environmental degradation, which peaked in the early decades of the twentieth century, when concerns about soil erosion, overstocking and water supplies gave rise to far-reaching state intervention aimed at conserving natural resources. He also explores the role of English-speaking South Africans both as farmers and as protagonists of conservationist ideas.
Simelane, Hamilton Sipho. Colonialism and Economic Change in Swaziland 1940-1960. JANyeko Publishing Centre [etc.], Kampala [etc.] 2003. ix, 230 pp. £23.95, $39.95.
This study examines the economic development of Swaziland in the context of British colonial policy. Before World War II, Swaziland's economy was basically dependent on South Africa. During World II the British colonial state intervened directly in this peripheral colony to increase agrarian output through land reform: the Native Land Settlement Scheme. From 1940 onward the country rapidly became integrated in the world economy. Professor Simelane deals extensively with labour issues. High demand for labour led to labour shortages, forced recruitment (during the war) and ultimately to trade unions and unrest among workers. The traditional position of women changed as well. Social tensions gave rise to conflicts between the colonial state and the indigenous monarchy.
AMERICA
Levitsky, Steven. Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America. Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xiii, 290 pp. $70.00; £50.00. (Paper: $25.00; £18.95.)
This monograph examines how some labour-based parties in Latin America have adjusted to the neo-liberal dominance in the 1990s. Professor Levitsky illustrates his arguments, focusing on the case of the Peronist party (PJ) in Argentina. He argues that the PJ, despite broad and thorough support among the working class, is informally organized and weakly routinized. This situation, which contrasts with that of the communist or social-democratic parties, was used by Menem to boost his career during the severe economic recession of 1989. The loosening ties with the trade unions enabled the party with its neo-liberal programme to raise support among the middle class as well. In the final chapter the author compares Argentina with Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Mexico.
Canada
Stonebanks, Roger. Fighting for Dignity. The Ginger Goodwin Story. Canadian Committee on Labour History, St. John's 2004. 206 pp. Ill. $26.95. On 27 July 1918 a military police officer shot the Canadian labour leader Ginger Goodwin (1887-1918) during Goodwin's attempt to evade military conscription. In this biographical study, Mr Stonebanks reconstructs Goodwin's life, his swift rise to prominence in the British Columbian mining labour and socialist movement and his motives for draft resistance. In a separate chapter, Mr Brooks provides a legal analysis and review of the hypothetical case that might have been made against the police officer known to have shot Goodwin.
Trudel, Marcel. Deux siècles d'esclavage au Québec. Suivi du: Dictionnaire des esclaves et de leurs propriétaires au Canada française sur CD-ROM. Avec la collaboration de Micheline D'Allaire. [Cahiers du Québec.] Éditions Hurtubise HMH Itée, Montréal 2004. 405 pp. [1 CD-ROM encl.] C$44.95.
The first edition of this overview of slavery in Quebec was published in 1960 under the title L'esclavage au Canada français. Although the French colony in Canada was known as a terre de liberté, there were slaves in la Nouvelle-France, albeit not a great many. In the colonial period between 1634 and 1820, Professor Trudel has estimated their number at approximately 4,200, 2,700 being native Canadians. The author gives a comprehensive overview of the social, economic and cultural context in which they lived. In an annex and on the enclosed CD-ROM a biographical dictionary of slaves in Canada is given. See also Yves Laberge's review in this volume, pp. 293-294.
United States of America
Aarim-Heriot, Najia. Chinese Immigrants, African Americans, and Racial Anxiety in the United States, 1848-82. [The Asian American experience.] University of Illinois Press, Urbana [etc.] 2003. xiv, 289 pp. Ill. $39.95.
In this comparative analysis of the "Chinese question" and the "Negro-problem" in nineteenth-century America, Professor Aarim-Heriot aims to show that the anti-Chinese sentiment leading up to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 originated from the same racial double standards applied by mainstream white society that excluded African Americans from full participation in the American political community. Exploring the roots of Sinophobia beyond the well-known Californian examples, she challenges previous studies that emphasize the resentment among labour organizations towards incoming Chinese workers and stresses the broader exclusion and oppression of non-white peoples.
Berlin, Ira. Generations of Captivity. A History of African-American Slaves. Belknap, Cambridge (Mass.) [etc.] 2003. 374 pp. £19.95.
This study aims to give a synthetic overview of the history of African-American slavery in the United States from its beginnings in the seventeenth century to its end in the late nineteenth century. Professor Berlin reviews several distinctive generations of slavery and slaves that were connected to the developments in American and Atlantic society, from the Charter Generations in the seventeenth to the Migration Generations and finally the Freedom Generations in the nineteenth century. Throughout this period slaves and slave owners continually renegotiated the terms of captivity, thus making and remaking this institution.
Biondi, Martha. To Stand and Fight. The Struggle for Civil Rights in Postwar New York City. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. [etc.] 2003. 360 pp. Ill. $25.95.
In this study of the origins and early development of the Northern civil rights movement, Professor Biondi focuses on New York City to show that the struggle against racial segregation and discrimination began in New York City a decade earlier than the more widely-known start of the movement in the US South. She explores how the New York civil rights movement arose from the war against fascism and emphasized justice over integration, achieving greater social, economic and political equality, and how the civil rights movement was then suddenly disrupted by the anticommunist crusade.
Charity, Philanthropy, and Civility in American History. Ed. by Lawrence J. Friedman and Mark D. McGarvie. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xi, 467 pp. £35.00; $40.00.
The seventeen essays in this volume aim to offer a comprehensive overview of the history of American philanthropy and its role in society from the seventeenth century to the modern welfare state. All contributions are based on the premise that philanthropic efforts in America derive from individual desires to impose their ideals and concepts of truth upon their society. The essays are divided into three chronological parts: from the colonial period to the Civil War; the period until the New Deal; and the period of the modern welfare state. In the epilogue, William B. Cohen compares American philanthropy to the corresponding the course of events in Europe.
Durr, Kenneth D. Behind the Backlash. White Working-Class Politics in Baltimore, 1940-1980. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill [etc.] 2003. x, 284 pp. Ill. Maps. £41.95. (Paper: £15.50.)
At the end of the 1960s, the United States experienced a supposed "white backlash" against racial integration, when white working-class protests against desegregation created an image of an essentially racist, conservative reaction of the white blue-collar populism against postwar liberal politics. This study focuses on the urban blue-collar world in Baltimore to explore the effects of desegregation, deindustrialization, recession and the rise of urban crime. Dr Durr argues that legitimate economic, social and political grievances convinced working-class people that the actions of liberal policymakers were a greater threat to them than black Americans were, and that the image of a racist white working-class merits qualification.
Hirsch, Susan Eleanor. After the Strike. A Century of Labor Struggle at Pullman. [The Working Class in American History.] University of Illinois Press, Urbana [etc.] 2003. x, 292 pp. Ill. $44.95.
Connecting two famous episodes in American labour history in which Pullman workers appear (the 1894 national rail strike instigated by Pullman's railroad car builders and the emergence, in the 1920s, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters), Professor Hirsh analyses in this study the relation between labour organizing and the racial and sexual discrimination by both employers and unions, based on an examination of union organizing and labour-management relations at the Pullman Company.
Klein, Jennifer. For All These Rights. Business, Labor, and the Shaping of America's Public-Private Welfare State. [Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America.] Princeton University Press, Princeton [etc.] 2003. xi, 354 pp. £22.95.
This study explores the emergence of old-age pensions and health insurance in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and analyses how the typical American public-private welfare state arose from the interplay between politics of social provision, labour relations and the commercial life insurance industry. Professor Klein aims to show how the concept of "social security", stemming from New Deal liberalism, was eventually used by the commercial life insurance industry to promote a private, enterprise-based welfare system. See also Marie Gottschalk's review in this volume, pp. 307-310.
Levy, Frank and Richard J. Murnane. The New Division of Labor. How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market. Russell Sage Foundation, New York; Princeton University Press, Princeton [etc.] 2004. ix, 174 pp. Ill. $24.95; £15.95.
This study analyses the impact of computerization on the present-day employment situation in the United States. Professors Levy and Murnane aim to show that while computers are enhancing productivity in many jobs, they also cause elimination of jobs in blue collar, clerical and similar work requiring moderate skills. They argue that the loss of these jobs leads to a growing division of labour, which should be acknowledged and counteracted by preparing the workforce for the new skills demanded by the computerized workplace. See also Greg Downey's review in this volume, pp. 310-312.
Made for America, 1890-1901. Ed. by Candace Falk. Ass. ed.: Barry Pateman. Assist. ed.: Jessica Moran. [Emma Goldman. A Documentary History of the American Years, Vol. 1.] University of California Press, Berkeley, [etc.] 2003. xx, 655 pp. Ill. $60.00; £39.50.
This is the first volume of a planned two-volume series that presents original texts, many of which are published in or are translated into English for the first time, to document the historical memory of Emma Goldman and the world of American and European radicalism she represented. The texts include personal correspondence, newspaper articles, government surveillance reports from America and Europe, court transcripts and lecture notes. This volume traces Goldman's life from her introduction into the anarchist movement to her ascendancy as a leading public figure. In her extensive historical introduction, the editor presents Goldman's life and activities in the context of the rise of American and international radicalism.
Sorge, Friedrich Adolf. Il movimento operaio negli Stati Uniti d'America 1783-1892. Corrispondenze dal Nord America. Edizioni Pantarei, Milano 2002. xxv, 435 pp. Ill. Maps. € 16.00.
This is the Italian translation from German of the articles that Friedrich Sorge (1828-1906) published in Die Neue Zeit between 1890 and 1895 about the history of the American labour movement in the period 1783-1892. Despite Friedrich Engels's efforts, no German edition was ever published of the articles. A Russian edition appeared in 1907, however, as well as an American one in 1977. The publisher has annotated the articles and has added illustrations. The book concludes with a chronology over the period 1783-1892, some maps and statistics about the geographic and industrial changes in the United States and a register of names featuring biographical annotations.
Willrich, Michael. City of Courts. Socializing Justice in Progressive Era Chicago. [Cambridge Historical Studies in American Law and Society.] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xxxix, 332 pp. Ill. £50.00; $70.00. (Paper: £18.95; $25.00.)
The modern idea of social responsibility of crime - that crime is less the product of free will than of poverty and other social forces beyond the control of the individual - and the related idea that the law should endorse social justice originated during the Progressive Era, according to Professor Willrich. Focusing on Chicago, he explores how progressive efforts to "socialize" urban justice redefined American liberalism and the rule of law, laying the foundations for the modern administrative welfare state. At the same time, he argues, it opened the field of everyday life to various forms of coercive social regulation.
Woodruff, Nan Elizabeth. American Congo. The African American freedom struggle in the Delta. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. [etc.] 2003. 282 pp. £25.95.
This study explores the living conditions of the rural black population of the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta working as sharecroppers during the first half of the twentieth century - conditions often compared to the horrific deprivations of the people of the African Congo under Belgian colonial rule - and their the struggle for social, economic and political justice. Professor Woodruff argues that the sharecroppers' struggle was a predecessor to and a source of inspiration for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Wright, Russell O. Chronology of Labor in the United States. McFarland, Jefferson, N.C., [etc.] 2003. ix, 136 pp. £22.95.
This chronology of labour in the United States deals primarily with the history of labour unions, starting with the legislation authorizing unionization in 1842. In the introduction, Mr Wright provides a concise historical account of American labour. The chronology covers the shifts from farming to manufacturing to service labour as the main sectors of occupation, the position of women in the labour force, child labour, changes in working hours, wages, unemployment and social security, workplace safety and educational issues.
ASIA
India
Bandyopadhyay, Sekhor. Caste, Culture and Hegemony. Social Domination in Colonial Bengal. Sage Publications, New Delhi [etc.] 2004. 253 pp. Rs. 550.00.
This study examines the interplay between caste, culture and power in colonial Bengal to assess in what measure the caste system in Bengal really differed from the rest of India, as argued in both traditional and subaltern historiography. According to Dr Bandyopadhyay, Bengal Hindu society preserved the essentials of caste discrimination in the colonial period, despite outward appearances suggesting otherwise. He argues that the Hindu caste maintained its cultural hegemony and structural cohesion by frustrating reformist endeavours and marginalizing dissidence. See also Parimal Ghosh's review in this volume, pp. 299-301.
Basu, Subho. Does Class Matter? Colonial Capital and Workers' Resistance in Bengal (1890-1937). [SOAS Studies on South Asia.] Oxford University Press, Oxford [etc.] 2004. ix, 316 pp. £21.99.
Focusing on the jute workers in the mill towns around Calcutta at the turn of the nineteenth century, Professor Basu explores in this study worker's politics, ranging from the social organization of the working-class neighbourhood to the institutional politics of trade unions and political parties. The author argues that, contrary to standard views of the Indian working class, workers have been active in defining their own politics and radicalizing and broadening anti-colonial struggles in Bengal. See also Samita Sen's review in this volume, pp. 301-303.
Iran
Floor, Willem. Agriculture in Qajar Iran. Mage, Washington, DC. 2003. ix, 692 pp. Ill. $100.00. This study aims to offer a comprehensive examination of nineteenth-century agriculture in Iran. Dr Floor explores both the different farming methods used and the range of crops cultivated, including new practices such as cash cropping, and economic trends in agriculture, especially the commercialization of Iranian farming. He also analyses the related growth of wage labour and off-farm employment and the impact of these developments on the socio-economic status of the rural population. In a separate chapter living conditions and everyday life among the rural population are related to the changes in the agricultural order in this period.
Israel
Maschke, Mariska. Die israelische Arbeiterorganisation Histadrut. Vom Staat im Staate zum unabhängigen Gewerkschaft. Haag + Herchen, Frankfurt am Main 2003. xvi, 311 pp. € 26.00.
This dissertation (Universität Gesamthochschule Essen, 2002) explores the development of the Israeli labour organization Histadrut from its origins in 1920 to the present day. Dr Maschke deals with the Histadrut's transformation from a multi-faceted organization - representing some 75 per cent of the Israeli workforce and encompassing trade union representation, worker social security and health care, consumer cooperatives and educational and cultural functions - that was pivotal in the rise of the Israeli state into a "normal", independent trade union federation. The author argues that the Histadrut's development thus mirrors the changes in Israeli society as a whole.
Japan
Mackie, Vera C. Feminism in Modern Japan. Citizenship, Embodiment and Sexuality. [Contemporary Japanese society.] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xiv, 293 pp. £50.00.
This study traces the history of feminist thought and women's activism in Japan from the late nineteenth century to the present. Professor Mackie analyses how these ideas challenged accepted notions of the role and position of women in Japanese society and explores the different manifestations of feminist activism, such as women questioning their roles as subjects of the Emperor or exploring the limits of citizenship for women under the postwar constitution. Translated excerpts from the writings of Japanese feminists are included.
North Korea
Armstrong, Charles K. The North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950. [Studies of the East Asian Institute.] Cornell University Press, Ithaca [etc.] 2003. xv, 265 pp. Ills. Map. $39.95.
Based on archival materials captured by US forces during the Korean War, this study examines the roots and origins of the communist regime in North Korea, one of the last remaining strongholds of "unreformed" Marxism-Leninism. Professor Armstrong argues that the system that arose under the umbrella of the Soviet occupation after 1945 represented a unique form of "indigenization" of Soviet Stalinism that quickly transformed into a nationalist regime as programmes initiated from above merged with distinctive local conditions.
EUROPE
1848. Actes du colloque international du cent cinquantenaire, tenu à l'Assemblée Nationale à Paris, les 23-25 février 1998. Sous la dir. de Jean-Luc Mayaud. Créaphis, Grâne 2002. Maps. 580 pp. € 45.00.
This collection comprises the proceedings of an international symposium, organized by the Société d'histoire de la revolution de 1848 et des revolutions du XIXe siècle in the French Assemblée nationale in February 1998, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the revolution of 1848. The thirty contributions deal with four main themes: "universal" suffrage; social questions; relations between Paris, the provinces and the colonies in the revolution of 1848; and 1848 as the "spring of peoples" in the rest of Europe, with contributions on the role of intellectuals in the revolution throughout Europe, its relation to the women's movement and 1848 in various other European countries.
Christliche Arbeiterbewegung in Europa 1850-1950. Hrsg. von Claudia Hiepel und Mark Ruff. [Konfession und Gesellschaft. Beiträge zur Zeitgeschichte, Band 30.] Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2003. 239 pp. € 20.00; Sfr. 33.80.
The eleven contributions in this collection aim to give an overview of the recent historiography of the origins and rise of the Christian and largely Catholic labour movement in various European countries, the broader social milieus to which they belonged and the "third way" between liberalism and Marxism that they defended. The regions addressed in the essays include the Ruhr region (Michaela Bachem-Rehm), Belgium (Carl Strikwerda, Jan De Maeyer), the Netherlands (Arno Bornebroek, Jan Peet), Switzerland (Urs Altermatt and Franziska Metzger), Upper Silesia (James Bjork), France (Bruno Duriez) and Italy (Alfredo Canavero).
Das Ende der Zünfte. Ein europäischer Vergleich. Hrsg. von Heinz-Gerhard Haupt. [Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft.] Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2002. 285 pp. € 36.00.
The twelve contributions in this volume, all based on papers presented at a symposium organized at the Martin-Luther-Universtität, Halle-Wittenberg, in May 1995, offer a comparative overview of the varying economic, social, political and cultural roles and functions of guilds in eighteenth-century Europe. All contributors aim to reappraise the guilds and to demonstrate that they often functioned as vehicles toward modernization, social control and cultural enrichment. Included are contributions on Westphalia and the Rhineland, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Hungary and the Ottoman Balkan.
Retour de Moscou. Les archives de la Ligue des droits de l'homme, 1898-1940. Sous la direction de Grégory Cingal and Sonia Combe. Préf. de Michel Tubiana. [Recherches à La Découverte.] Éditions La Découverte/BDIC, Paris 2004. 189 pp. € 17.00.
This book in the Recherches series is about the content and the meanderings of the archive of the French Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH). Three articles cover the relations between the LDH and the Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine (BDIC) in Paris (where the archive has been since 2000), its confiscation by the Gestapo in 1940 and subsequently by the Red Army in 1945, its transfer to Moscow and its return to Paris. Next are four essays about the LDH based on research in the LDH archive. The book concludes with the complete inventory of the more than 17,000 files that the archive contains.
Eire - Ireland
Costello, Francis. The Irish Revolution and its Aftermath 1916-1923. Years of revolt. Irish Academic Press, Dublin [etc.] 2003. xi, 452 pp. £35.00.
This study aims to analyse the Irish revolution in its totality in the period 1916-1923, covering the range of social, economic and political changes, as well as the IRA campaign of guerrilla warfare and the British response. Dr Costello details the debates within the British cabinet about dealing with the Irish revolt and the British reaction to the alternative, underground government of Dáil Éireann, explores the role of international public opinion - in the United States in particular - and examines the early stages of nation building in the nascent Irish Free State.
Garner, Steve. Racism in the Irish Experience. Pluto, London [etc.] 2004. viii, 308 pp. Ill. £16.99; $29.95.
In nine analytical essays in this book, Dr Garner explores the rise of an Irish "racial" consciousness against the background of the sixteenth-century colonization of Ireland, the ambivalent experiences in the British Empire, the nineteenth-century mass emigration to the United States and Great Britain and the problematic relation between Irish nationalist ideologies and racism. He assesses the influence of these factors on the position and experiences of minorities (including Jews and travellers) in Ireland in the past as well as in Ireland today.
France
Alexander, Robert. Re-writing the French Revolutionary Tradition. Liberal Opposition and the Fall of the Bourbon Monarchy. [New studies in European history.] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xi, 385 pp. £55.00.
This study explores the role of the Liberal Opposition during the period of Bourbon Restoration in France (1814-1830) in the achievement of progressive political change, which led to the fall of the Bourbon monarchy in the July revolution. Professor Alexander argues that legal grassroots organization and persuasion rather than the revolutionary tradition of conspiracy and armed insurrection enabled the Liberal Opposition to realize a model for political change that successfully adapted the pursuit of reform to a desire for civil order.
Autogestion. La dernière utopie? Sous la dir. de Frank Georgi. [Histoire de la France aux XIXe et XXe siècles, 60.] Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris 2003. 612 pp. Ill. € 30.00.
These are the proceedings of a colloquium, organized by the Centre d'Histoire sociale du XXe siècle of the University of Paris I in June 2001, on workers' control as the last utopia of the twentieth century. The general perspective of the forty-two contributions is the question of how and why workers' control in 1968 suddenly became one of the main ideological issues of the left and remained so for about a decade, only to disappear as quickly as it had emerged. Four themes are covered: the theoretical and ideological roots of workers' control; the political usage of the concept by organizations on the left; workers' control in enterprises and in the development of industrial relations of the period; and everyday experiences with workers' control.
Bárcia, Robert, alias Hardy. La véritable histoire de Lutte Ouvrière. Entretiens avec Christophe Bourseiller. Éditions Denoël, Paris 2003. 326 pp. € 17.00.
In this book, Robert Bárcia, the legendary leader of one of the three main Trotskyist movements in France, Lutte Ouvrière (LO) (Workers' Struggle), is interviewed about his militant trajectory since World War II, the internal organization of LO, the political course of events in postwar France and the role of the left and the many rumours and allegations about his role in the Trotskyite movement (see also Jan Willem Stutje's review essay on Trotskyism in IRSH, 49 (2004), pp. 279-292).
Beilecke, François. Französische Intellektuelle und die Dritte Republik. Das Beispiel einer Intellektuellenassoziation 1892-1939. [Campus Forschung, Band 854.] Campus Verlag, Frankfurt [etc.] 2003. 422 pp. € 49.00; SFR 81.90.
This dissertation (University of Kassel, 2002) focuses on two associations of French intellectuals, the Union pour la Vérité and the Union pour l'Action Morale, which from 1892 onward were important forces in raising public awareness during the Third Republic. Encompassing all major republican intellectuals, from the centre and the moderate left, these associations represented a new form of republicanism, rooted in humanism. The author argues that the ideas about the role and responsibility of intellectuals in modern society propagated through these associations impeded the rise of radical political currents in France in the early twentieth century and helped stabilize the Third Republic.
Blanc, Jérôme. Frédéric Engel-Dollfus, un industriel saint-simonien. Préf. de Francis Démier. Editions Christian, Paris 2003. 189 pp. Ill. € 25.00.
This is a biographical study of Frédéric Engel-Dollfus (1818-1883), a textile entrepreneur from the Alsace, who through his marriage to Julie Dollfus became a partner in one of the large textile enterprises in nineteenth-century France. The author focuses on Engel-Dollfus's social reformism and paternalistic disposition towards the workers at his factories and on his interest in technological innovation. These characteristics combined make him, according to Mr Blanc, proto-typical of Saint-Simonist industrialists.
Boulouque, Sylvain. Les anarchistes français face aux guerres coloniales 1945-1962. Atelier de Création Libertaire, Lyon 2003. 123 pp. € 11.50.
This study examines the attitude and reactions of French anarchists towards the anticolonial struggle in French colonies in the period 1945-1962. Given their ideology, anarchists were anticolonialist on the one hand but on the other hand opposed the overt nationalism of many of the national independence movements in the colonies themselves. Mr Boulouque sketches how some anarchists nevertheless sided with the anticolonial struggle, while others resisted choosing between two evils.
Brucy, Guy. Histoire de la FEN. [Histoire de l'éducation.] Belin, Paris 2003. 635 pp. € 33.50.
This study aims to offer a comprehensive history of the Fédération de l'Éducation nationale (FEN), the French national teachers' union. Starting with its predecessors in the early twentieth century, Dr Brucy then covers the history of the FEN from its beginning in 1944, through the Cold War era, the Algerian war, May 1968, to the early 1990s. The author analyses how the FEN preserved its unity through these often turbulent episodes in the history of French labour and retained its organizational and ideological autonomy vis-à-vis the CGT.
Chabot, Joceline. Les débuts du syndicalisme féminin chrétien en France 1899-1944. Presses Universitaires de Lyon, Lyon 2003. 234 pp. € 18.00.
In 1899, the first Christian women's movement was founded in Lyon. This study reviews the origins and development of this little-known part of the French labour movement. Professor Chabot explores how local initiatives converged in the early decades of the twentieth century, giving rise to the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (CFTC) in 1919, and demonstrates how the women's union retained a large measure of organizational autonomy, in combining promotion of women's employment with appeals for allowing mothers to stay home to care for their children.
Chatriot, Alain. La démocratie sociale à la française. L'expérience du Conseil National Économique 1924-1940. [Collection "L'espace de l'histoire".] Éditions La Découverte, Paris 2002 . viii, 419 pp. € 26.00.
The Conseil national économique (CNE), formed in 1925 and dissolved upon the Nazi occupation in 1940, was pivotal in French social and economic policy and especially labour and industrial relations in the interwar period. This study deals with the history of the CNE in the context of the economic depression of the 1930s. Professor Chatriot examines the debates on economic liberalism and dirigisme that surrounded the CNE and its role in drafting and enacting social legislation under the Popular Front, including the introduction of the forty-hour working week.
Desan, Suzanne. The Family on Trial in Revolutionary France. [Studies on the History of Society and Culture, Vol. 51.] University of California Press, Berkeley [etc.] 2004. xiv, 456 pp. Ill. $50.00; £32.95.
This study aims to analyse the social revolution within households brought about by the French Revolution. Professor Desan shows how revolutionary politics and laws radically redefined the family and its internal dynamics and led families to negotiate new social practices, such as divorce, inheritance and granting civil rights to illegitimate children, while balancing Old Regime customs with revolutionary innovations in law and culture. According to the author, the new civil laws and gender politics often increased the opportunities available to women. Combining national-level analysis with a case study of family contestation in Normandy, she explores the French efforts to introduce the principles of liberty and equality into the home.
Flores d'Arcais, Alessandra. Il Voyage en Icarie di Étienne Cabet. [Letture e ricerche Francesi, 20.] CLEUP Editrice, Padova 2002. 302 pp. € 22.00.
The author aims to demonstrate in this study that a literary analysis of Étienne Cabet's utopian novel Voyage en Icarie is worthwhile. Starting with a chapter about the history of the book's publication, the author explores Cabet's reasons for presenting his ideas to the public in a novel, his measure of success and critical responses to the book. In her literary analysis she examines Cabet's strategies toward achieving his objective of winning public support for his ideas. She also addresses the ideological sources of the book and concludes with an extensive bibliography and a chart of archival references.
Harvey, David. Paris, Capital of Modernity. Routledge, New York, [etc.] 2003. xi, 372 pp. Ill. Maps. € 19.99.
In this richly illustrated study, Professor Harvey focuses on the period between the failed revolutions of 1848 and 1871 to examine the social, economic, cultural and spatial development of Paris. During this period the city experienced a vast physical transformation under the legendary prefect Baron Haussmann, as well as the rise of a new form of high-finance capitalism and the emergence of a consumer culture. These manifestations of modernity further divided the city, according to the author, along class lines, resulting in the rise and repression of the Commune in 1871. See also Charles Rearick's review in this volume, pp. 294-297.
Jean Zay et la gauche du radicalisme. Sous la dir. de Antoine Prost. Presses de Sciences Po, Paris 2003. 250 pp. € 22.95.
The fifteen contributions to this collection explore the Radical leftist tradition in twentieth-century French politics, focusing on how this influential current in French politics was represented by the French politician Jean Zay (1904-1944). The first four essays examine the origins and rise of the Radical Party before 1914; the second part focuses on the Radical left in the interwar period that formed the political home of Zay; the third part deals with the political career of Zay and his controversial relationship with the French resistance; and the concluding two essays explore the postwar heritage of this tradition in mendésisme.
La Révolution française. Idéaux, singularités, influences. Journées d'études en hommage à Albert Soboul, Jacques Godechot et Jean-René Suratteau, 20-21 septembre 2001. Sous la dir. de Robert Chagny et le Musée de la Révolution française (Vizille). Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, Grenoble 2002. xix, 410 pp. € 20.00.
These are the proceedings of a symposium organized at the Museum of the French Revolution in Vizille, France, in September 2001 in honour of three leading historians of the French Revolution: Albert Soboul (1913-1982), Jacques Godechot (1907-1989) and Jean-René Suratteau (1916-1998). The thirty contributions deal with a variety of themes, including the debate about the extent to which the French Revolution was a Western Revolution, the germination of nationalism in Italy, Germany and Switzerland and the social and political aspects of the Revolution.
Thillay, Alain. Le faubourg Saint-Antoine et ses "faux ouvriers". La liberté du travail à Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. [Epoques, collection d'histoire.] Champ Vallon, Seyssel 2002. Diff.: Presses Universitaires de France. 400 pp. € 28.00.
This is a history of the origins and development of the Parisian suburb Saint-Antoine and its population of artisans and workers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the related discourse on the freedom of labour and the role of the guilds. Under the aegis of the monarchy, artisans outside the guilds who settled in Saint-Antoine were authorized in 1657 to practise their trade and thus instigated heated debates between advocates and opponents of freedom of labour. Professor Thillay explores the artisans of Saint-Antoine and situates them in this broader context of related changes in Paris and the ensuing economic, political and judicial debates.
Thuillier, Guy. Les ouvriers des forges nivernaises au XIXe siècle. Vie quotidienne et pratiques sociales. Association pour l'étude de l'histoire de la Sécurité sociale, Paris 2002. Diff.: La Documentation française. xiv, 645 pp. € 46.00.
This study explores living conditions and social security benefits among metallurgical workers in the French department of La Nièvre and the Nivernais region in the nineteenth century. Dr Thuillier, who recently published a two-volume study on mendicancy in the same region and period (see IRSH, 48 (2003), p. 524), focuses on the group of 3,000 to 4,000 workers in the forges of the Nivernais region to illustrate the meagre sickness and disability provisions.
Germany
Brauns, Nikolaus. Schafft rote Hilfe! Geschichte und Aktivitäten der proletarischen Hilfsorganisation für politische Gefangene in Deutschland [1919-1938]. Pahl-Rugenstein, Bonn 2003. 345 pp. Ill. € 32.00.
Based on a dissertation (Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München, 2002), this richly illustrated study gives a comprehensive overview of the history and organizational structure of the Rote Hilfe Deutschlands, the German Red Aid, from its establishment in 1924 to its dissolution in 1938. Dr Brauns explores the proletarian relief organization's predecessors in the revolutionary period and conducts an inventory of its various activities in social care, financial aid and legal support for German and foreign political prisoners and refugees and their families and the resistance efforts from 1933 onward.
Brüchert-Schunk, Hedwig. Zwangsarbeit in Wiesbaden. Der Einsatz von Zwangsarbeitskräften in der Wiesbadener Kriegswirtschaft 1939 bis 1945. [Schriften des Stadtarchivs Wiesbaden.] Stadtarchiv Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden 2003. 302 pp. Ill. € 20.80.
Since the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" was launched in 1999 to stimulate interest in the history of forced labour in Nazi Germany, this subject has taken centre stage in German historiography, especially in the wealth of local histories of forced labour during World War II. This study deals with forced labour in the war economy in the city of Wiesbaden. The authors sketch the variations in the living and working conditions of forced labourers of different origins, paying special attention to the fate of the Jewish population of Wiesbaden.
Caldwell, Peter C. Dictatorship, State Planning, and Social Theory in the German Democratic Republic. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. x, 220 pp. Ill. £45.00; $60.00.
This study focuses on various well-known social theorists in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), such as the economist Fritz Behrens and the philosopher Ernst Bloch, to examine how from the 1950s onward state-socialist politics and social theory both merged and collided. Professor Caldwell shows how GDR social theorists struggled with basic contradictions within state socialism: how the state-socialist plan, for example, forbade markets yet could not function without them.
Eduard Bernsteins Briefwechsel mit Karl Kautsky (1895 - 1905). Eingel. und hrsg. von Till Schelz-Brandenburg unter Mitarb. von Susanne Thurn. [Quellen und Studien zur Sozialgeschichte, Band 19.] Campus Verlag, Frankfurt [etc.] 2003. liv, 1159 pp. € 129.00. SFR 210.00.
This edition comprises 309 letters from the correspondence of Eduard Bernstein and Karl Kautsky, written largely between 1895 and 1900, when Bernstein left the editorial staff of the Neue Zeit. During these five years the correspondence between these two important ideologues of German and European social democracy was by far the most intensive of the entire period of nearly fifty years. In their letters they address major issues within social democratic theoretical advances, especially the revisionism debates. In his introduction, Dr Schelz-Brandenburg merely indicates the main issues in the history of socialism after Marx identifiable in this correspondence.
Kupfer, Torsten. Geheime Zirkel und Parteivereine. Die Organisation der deutschen Sozialdemokratie zwischen Sozialistengesetz und Jahrhundertwende. [Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für soziale Bewegung: Schriftenreihe B, Quellen und Dokumente, Band 5] Klartext, Essen 2003. 278 pp. € 39.90.
This study examines the development of the German social democratic party organization in the period between the end of the Sozialistengesetz (the legal ban on socialist organizations enacted in 1878) in 1890 and the early twentieth century. Dr Kupfer covers the internal party structures and the ways these structures were influenced by legal repression, elaboration of decision-making processes, membership and regional variations therein and the social origins of the membership. See also Bert Altena's review in this volume, pp. 297-299.
Le milieu intellectuel de gauche en Allemagne, sa presse et ses réseaux (1890-1960). Das Linke Intellektuellenmilieu in Deutschland, seine Presse und seine Netzwerke (1890-1960). Études réunies par Michel Grunewald en collab. avec Hans Manfred Bock/Herausgegeben von Michel Grunewald in Zusammenarb. mit Hans Manfred Bock. [Convergences vol. 24.] Peter Lang, Bern [etc.] 2002. xii, 714 pp. € 75.00.
The 27 essays in this volume, of which 20 are in German, constitute the proceedings of an international colloquium organized in Metz in December 2001 about the leftist intellectual milieu in Germany, covering both political outsiders and representatives of a variety of leftist political parties and organizations. The theme is chronologically divided into four phases: the formation of the leftist intellectual milieu (1890-1914), its fragmentation (1918-1933), its problematization (1933-1939) and its revival after 1945. All contributors explore the milieu by examining the role of the press of the related networks of intellectuals.
Mühlberger, Detlef. The Social Bases of Nazism, 1919-1933. [New Studies in Economic and Social History, vol. 48.] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xi, 95 pp. £25.00; $40.00.
This introductory textbook deals with one of the most debated aspects of the history of Nazism: the social backgrounds of its supporters and in particular the extent to which the Nazi party was predominantly a middle-class party or one with working-class support. Based on extensive sociological literature, Dr Mühlberger concludes that the data substantiate the claim by the Nazis in the 1920s and early 1930s that their party was a people's party able to mobilize support from all sections of German society.
Obens, Heinz-Udo. Wir hatten viel Hunger. Fremdarbeiter, Ostarbeiter, Zwangsarbeiter: die Standard-Metallwerke zu Werl und ihre Ausländischen Arbeitskräfte im Zweiten Weltkrieg. A. Stein'sche Buchhandlung, Werl 2003. 176 pp. Ill. € 19.90.
In this richly illustrated volume, Mr Obens sketches the experiences of foreign labour and forced labour stationed at the Standard-Metallwerke factories in the German town of Werl during World War II. The author, who is with the present-day management of the firm, stresses the moral responsibility of the firms involved in facilitating a historical account of this period. He reviews Standard-Metallwerke's involvement in the armament industry, recruitment of voluntary foreign labour, increasing use of forced labour from Eastern and Western Europe alike, organization of forced labour deployment and the everyday occurrence of hardship and abuse.
Schiller, Dieter. Die Expressionismus Debatte 1937 - 1939. Aus dem redaktionellen Briefwechsel der Zeitschrift "Das Wort". [Pankower Vorträge.] Helle Panke, Berlin 2002. 75 pp. € 3.00.
This booklet comprises three essays, based on lectures, on the debates conducted in the years 1937-1939 in and around the Moscow-based literary German Exil-journal Das Wort and on the appreciation and influence of German expressionism. The best-known participants in these debates, which took place against the background of implementation of the Stalinist cultural policy, were Berthold Brecht and Georg Lukács. Professor Schiller bases his analysis of the conflicting positions of the journal's editors and these authors on their correspondence and relates these debates to the position of German communist exiles in this period of Stalinization.
Schönhoven, Klaus. Arbeiterbewegung und soziale Demokratie in Deutschland. Ausgewählte Beiträge. Hrsg. von Hans-Jochen Vogel und Michael Ruck. [Politik- und Gesellschaftsgeschichte, Band 59.] Dietz, Bonn 2002. 480 pp. € 37.00.
On the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, this collection brings together a selection of 22 essays by Klaus Schönhoven, published between 1979 and 2002. Professor Schönhoven, one of the leading historians on nineteenth and twentieth-century German political and social history, focuses on the history of political Catholicism and the role of social democracy and the trade union movement in modern German history. The collection is divided into one section on the rise of trade unions in Imperial Germany; another section on the unstable democracy of the Weimar Republic; and a third on the emergence of social democracy in the postwar German federal republic.
Schumann, Michael. Metamorphosen von Industriearbeit und Arbeiterbewusstsein. Kritische Industriesoziologie zwischen Taylorismusanalyse und Mitgestaltung innovativer Arbeitspolitik. VSA-Verlag, Hamburg 2003. 175 pp. € 14.80.
This collection comprises ten essays, all but one previously published between 1984 and 2002, by the German sociologist Michael Schumann on the history of the transformation of industrial labour in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Professor Schumann, who became known as co-author of the seminal study Industriearbeit und Arbeiterbewusstsein (1970), deals in these essays with the post-Fordist changes in and emergence of new production concepts and with related issues of changes in workers' self-consciousness and renewal of solidarity in a labour market characterized by exclusion and division.
Das Zwangsarbeitsystem im Dritten Reich. Als Dolmetscherin in Mühlheimer Lagern. Die Erinnerungen von Eleonore Helbach. Hrsg. vom Geschichtsverein Mühlheim an der Ruhr 1906 e.V. mit Hans Fischer and Barbara Kaufhold. Verlag an der Ruhr, Mühlheim an der Ruhr 2003. Ill. 251 pp. € 13.80.
This volume brings together the autobiographical notes of Eleonore Helbach, a female forced labourer, who came from Rostow, Russia, and was put to work as interpreter in a labour camp for Polish and Russian forced labourers in Mülheim, in the Ruhr region. The notes offer insight into living conditions at the labour camp and are placed in their historical context by the editors' introduction and additional information in text boxes. Interviews with other forced labourers from the Ruhr region complement these memoirs.
Great Britain
Abrams, Fran. Freedom's Cause. Lives of the Suffragettes. Profile Books, London 2003. xvii, 283 pp. Ill. £17.99.
In this study, Mrs Abrams brings together a dozen short biographies of ten well-known and some less well-known suffragettes and two male advocates of female suffrage in Britain in the late Victorian and the Edwardian eras. The author's objective is to identify similarities between these persons and to explore why at that specific period in history large numbers of middle-class women were willing to sacrifice wealth, leisure, freedom and in some cases even their lives for the cause of female suffrage.
Bailey, Joanne. Unquiet Lives. Marriage and Marriage Breakdown in England, 1660-1800. [Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History.] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [etc.] 2003. xii, 244 pp. £40.00; $60.00.
Based on court records and newspaper advertisements announcing marriage and marriage breakdown, this study explores how marriage and married life was experienced by men and women of the lower classes in England between 1660 and 1800, and how material aspects of marriage and expectations of and experience with married life were influenced by the major social, economic and cultural changes of this period. In this reassessment of marriage in the long eighteenth century, Dr Bailey concludes that balances of power between men and women in marriage were much more equal than generally assumed.
Bloom, Clive. Violent London. 2000 Years of Riots, Rebels and Revolts. Sidgwick & Jackson, London [etc.] 2003. xvii, 597 pp. Ill. Maps. £18.99; $38.95.
Organized around a number of major themes - racism, religious bigotry, republicanism and Parliamentary reform - this study aims to offer a general overview of street politics and political violence in the city of London from its onset in the Roman era to the present day. Based entirely on secondary sources, Professor Bloom deals in chronological order with twenty-six instances of political violence, protest or rioting and radical groups involved, from the destruction of London in ad 60, through the Levellers, the Jacobites and the Chartists, to the twentieth-century examples of fascist and racist violence and postwar cases of poll tax rebellion and environmental protests.
Lynch, Patricia. The Liberal Party in Rural England 1885-1910. Radicalism and Community. [Oxford Historical Monographs.] Clarendon, Oxford [etc.] 2003. viii, 262 pp. £45.00.
This study explores the relationship between the British Liberal Party and rural working-class voters from the year this group became enfranchised under the Third Reform Act in 1885 until 1910. Dr Lynch argues that prior to 1914, the rural vote was essential to any political party hoping to establish a strong Parliamentary majority, and that the Liberal Party had to cater to two often conflicting facets of rural political culture to win the support of the rural electorate: a tradition of radicalism and concern for harmony in the local community.
A Ministry of Enthusiasm. Centenary Essays on the Workers' Educational Association. Ed by Stephen K. Roberts. Pluto Press, London [etc.] 2003. xxiv, 326 pp. £50.00. (Paper: £16.99.)
This collection of 16 essays has been published on the occasion of the centenary of The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), the oldest and largest provider of adult education courses in the voluntary sector. The contributions, by both practitioners and scholars in adult education, place the WEA origins and development in its historical and social context, examining the extent to which the WEA has become a middle-class movement, whether it has been an instrument of social change and other issues.
Toynbee, Polly. Hard Work Life in Low-Pay Britain. Bloomsbury, London 2003. 242 pp. £6.99.
In this example of participative journalism, Mrs Toynbee, journalist of the Guardian and author of A Working Life (1970), describes her experiences living among the lowest-paid workers in Britain, taking whatever job available at the job centre, at minimum wage. According to her research, at present, after Tony Blair's "New Deal", the lowest paid effectively earn less than they did thirty years ago, and social mobility for these people has came to a halt.
Warner, Jessica. Craze. Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason. Consisting of a Tragicomedy in three acts in which High and Low are brought together much to their Mutual Discomfort. Complete with Stories, some witty and some not, conducive to meditation on Recent Events. Profile Books, London 2003. xviii, 267 pp. Ill. £15.00.
In the first half of the eighteenth century, gin rapidly became the most popular drink and drug, especially among the London poor. This study explores how gin became the original urban drug, as the author labels it, and how English society became overwhelmed by the gin craze. Gin was considered a threat to society, and to restrict sales and reform the morals of the lower classes Parliament introduced a series of Gin Acts, which culminated in failure and elicited powerful resistance. Dr Warner argues that the gin craze reveals interesting parallels with the recent "war on drugs".
Wojtczak, Helena. Women of Victorian Sussex. The Hastings Press, Hastings 2003. ix, 245 pp. Ill. £9.99.
In this richly illustrated study for a general readership, Mrs Wojtczak gives an overview of the social, economic and legal status of women in the county of Sussex in the Victorian era, 1830-1870. Using censuses, as well as trade directories and newspapers, the author aims to quantify women's employment and conduct an inventory of the occupations at which women worked. In the concluding chapter, she offers a concise introduction to some Sussex feminists of the period.
Women and Urban Life in Eighteenth-Century England. 'On the Town'. Ed. by Rosemary Sweet and Penelope Lane. Ashgate, Aldershot 2003. viii, 216 pp. £45.00.
This collection of nine essays, based on a conference held at the University of Leicester in May 1999, compares changes in urban development with shifts in the pattern of gender relations in eighteenth-century England. The issues addressed include the connections between urban growth, changing definitions of citizenship and the emergence of the male gendered political subject; the role of women in a literate, consumer and industrializing society; the place of women's networks in the economic, political and social life of the town; and the distinctive role of women in areas such as philanthropy and business.
Italy
Behan, Tom. The Resistible Rise of Benito Mussolini. Bookmarks, London [etc.] 2003. viii, 134 pp. £8.00.
This study of the early leftist resistance against Mussolini's fascists focuses on the origins and initial success of the Arditi del popolo (ADP), a coalition of local democratic working-class groups that joined forces in a national organization in June 1921. According to Dr Behan, the ADP was the first anti-fascist movement with the potential to stop the rise of Mussolini's fascist movement. It was the massive opposition against the ADP from both the Bonimi government and the organized left (both the newly formed communist party, PCI, and the socialist party, PSI) that led to its political isolation and eventual demise.
Caro Berlinguer. Note e appunti riservati di Antonio Tatò a Enrico Berlinguer 1969-1984. [Gli struzzi, 568.] Einaudi, Torino 2003. xliii, 336 pp. € 14.50.
Antonio Tatò, the editor of this collection of documents, was the spokesman and confidant of PCI secretary Enrico Berlinguer for 15 years (1969-1984). Tatò managed Berlinguer's relations with world leaders in politics, social organizations and journalism and compiled a record of these conversations. This book features an integral version of these documents in chronological sequence, offering an unfiltered view of the most dramatic period of the First Republic. The Istituto Gramsci, where they are kept, approved their publication for the sake of an accurate recent historiography. In the introduction F. Barbagallo places the documents in their political context. A biographical index concludes the book.
Reeder, Linda. Widows in White. Migration and the Transformation of Rural Italian Women, Sicily, 1880-1920. [Studies in Gender and History.] University of Toronto Press, Toronto [etc.] 2003. xii, 322 pp. $65.00; £42.00. (Paper: $27.50; £18.00.)
Professor Reeder examines in this study how the lives of rural Sicilian women changed as a result of male migration to the United States in the period 1880-1920. Based on a broad variety of sources, she explores the impact of industrialization, migration and globalization on motherhood, family, wage work and female civic identity, revealing the deeply gendered nature of these processes. See also the author's article "Conflict Across the Atlantic: Women, Family and Mass Male Migration in Sicily, 1880-1920", in IRSH, 46 (2001), pp. 371-391.
Uccellini, Primo. Memorie di un vecchio carbonaro ravegnano. Con annotazioni storiche. A cura di Tommaso Casini. Presentazione di Donatino Domini. Longo Editore, Ravenna 2003. 13, xvi, 283 pp. € 18.00.
This is the facsimile reprint of the autobiography of an Italian supporter of Mazzini and Garibaldi from Ravenna. It was first published in 1898 and was edited by Tommaso Casini, who added detailed notes. Uccellini (1804-1882), an adherent of the Carboneria, publicist and librarian, describes the history of the Risorgimento in Ravenna and reports on the political persecution, of which he was a victim before and after the Italian Unification as a fighter for freedom and brotherhood and a follower of "Giovane Italia". From 1834 until 1847 he was in exile and was imprisoned in 1848. The account runs until 1860 and includes an appendix on his imprisonment in 1868.
Women's Work, the Family, and Social Policy. Focus on Italy in a European Perspective. [Studies in European Union, vol. 2.] Ed. by Daniela Del Boca and Margherita Repetto-Alaia. Peter Lang, New York [etc.] 2003. xii, 196 pp. € 36.00.
The eight essays in this collection explore the issue of women's work in Italy during the last decades of the twentieth century against the background of the profound changes that have been occurring since the 1960s in the roles of women in society and family. Topics covered include women's employment, their motives for working, the impact of paid employment on fertility and family patterns of working women, strategies for balancing work and child-raising, the impact of social policy and the effects of women's work on family income and income distribution.
The Netherlands
Altena, Marga. Visuele strategieën. Foto's en films van fabrieksarbeiders in Nederland (1890-1919). Aksant, Amsterdam 2003. 328 pp. Ill. € 35.00.
In this richly illustrated, large-size book, Dr Altena explores the varied ways industrialists, the Labour Inspectorate and the women's movement produced images of female factory workers in the Netherlands between 1890 and 1918. By analysing the pictures of women workers from different sources, the author aims to show how these three groups used photographs and films to acquire a voice in the public debate about female industrial labour, as it was developing in the Netherlands at the time. In this analysis, she also relates the form of the images to their ideological meaning.
Buiting, Henny. De Nieuwe Tijd, sociaal democratisch maandschrift 1896-1921. Spiegel van socialisme en vroeg communisme in Nederland. Aksant, Amsterdam 2003. xvii, 718 pp. Ill. € 45.00.
De Nieuwe Tijd, launched in 1896, was the theoretical and literary monthly of the Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiders Partij, the social democratic party in the Netherlands. In the ideological and political factional struggles around the turn of the century between Marxists and reformists, the editors of the journal sided with the Marxists. This study offers a comprehensive history of the development of De Nieuwe Tijd and the ideological and political careers of its editors and main contributors, who included the leading lights of Dutch Marxism: Herman Gorter, Henriette Roland Holst, Frank van der Goes and Anton Pannekoek.
Cort, Bart de. Solidariteit in anonimiteit. De geschiedenis van de leden van de Onafhankelijke Socialistische Partij (1932-1935). Een documentaire. Papieren Tijger, Breda 2004. 288 pp. € 21.00.
This study examines the history of a small leftist socialist party in the Netherlands, the Onafhankelijke Socialistische Partij (OSP) [Independent Socialist Party], which during its brief existence between 1932 and 1935 left a clear mark on the overall history of the left in the Netherlands during the interwar period. Mr de Cort uses oral history to sketch the everyday experience of the party rank and file and to explore the shared characteristics among the ordinary members. He concludes that most common by far was their consistent practice of solidarity, ranging from assistance to German émigrés after 1933, through the resistance during World War II, to their relentless activities in the labour movement.
Het kromme recht buigen. Mensen en hun motieven in de geschiedenis van de protestants-christelijke sociale beweging. Red.: Arno Bornebroek [en] George Harink. Aksant, Amsterdam 2003. 233 pp. Ill. € 19.90.
This collection brings together ten biographical essays on the lives and work of representatives of the Protestant social and labour movement in the Netherlands in the twentieth century. Included are portraits of well-known leaders, such as H. Amelink (1881-1957) (Paul Werkman) and W.F. de Gaay Fortman (1911-1997) (Jan-Jaap van den Berg), as well as of less well-known individuals, such as Joost Augusteijn (1876-1962) (Arno Bornebroek), chairman of the Protestants Christelijke Bond van Spoor- en Tramwegpersoneel (PCB) [Protestant union of railroad workers].
Wartena, Bert. H. Goeman Borgesius [1847-1917], vader van de verzorgingsstaat. Een halve eeuw liberale en sociale politiek in Nederland. Aksant, Amsterdam 2003. viii, 400 pp. Ill. € 25.00.
This is a biography of the Dutch Liberal politician and social reformist Hendrik Goeman Borgesius (1847-1917). As a member of various cabinets, he was jointly responsible for the introduction of important legislation, such as the compulsory education act, legislation against alcohol abuse and the housing act. According to the author, Goeman Borgesius should thus be regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Dutch welfare state and its social security system and was responsible for changing the course of Liberal politics from a pure laissez-faire doctrine towards social reformism.
Poland
Żarnowski, Janusz. State, Society and Intelligentsia. Modern Poland and its Regional Context. [Variorum Collected Studies.] Ashgate Variorum, Aldershot 2003. xiv + 312 pp. £57.50.
This book brings together a selection of Dr Żarnowski's works published in English, French and German over the past thirty years. The first part, consisting of eight articles, deals with problems of state and society in East-Central Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, whereas another nine articles review the social structure of Polish society in the interwar period and focus on the role of the intelligentsia. The concluding article covers socio-historical research and methods in Poland over the past three decades.
Russia - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Corney, Frederick C. Telling October. Memory and the Making of the Bolshevik Revolution. Cornell University Press, Ithaca [etc.] 2004. xvi, 301 pp. Ill. $49.95; £28.95. (Paper: $22.50; £12.95.)
This study deals with the telling of the October Revolution as a foundation narrative or myth of the Soviet Union and analyses the efforts of the Communist Party to shape the construction and institutionalization of the "October" story. The author concentrates on the first ten years after October, dealing extensively with Istpart, the commission set up in 1920 to write a coherent history of the revolution, and the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the October revolution. He uses a wide variety of sources, from archival collections to films, celebrations and history-writing projects.
Gorlizki, Yoram and Oleg Khlevniuk. Cold Peace. Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953. Oxford University Press, Oxford [etc.] 2004. viii, 248 pp. Ill. £25.00.
This book is about Stalin's relationship with his entourage in the years after World War II. Relying on original Central Committee resolutions, personal correspondence among Politburo members and recently published memoirs, the authors conclude that, contrary to indications in earlier Western, as well as in more recent Russian scholarship, there were neither any rivals to Stalin's leadership nor any "factions" associated with moderate or liberal policy programs within Stalin's entourage.
Post-Soviet Women Encountering Transition. Nation building, Economic Survival, and Civic Activism. Ed. by Kathleen Kuehnast and Carol Nechemias. Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Washington D.C.; The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore [etc.] 2004. xiii, 357 pp. $55.00.
In this collection of fourteen essays by social scientists, anthropologists and political scientists from the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union the contributors examine women's roles in a broad range of fields, from nation building and rural household economies to democratization and civic activism, both in Russia and in other former Soviet republics. Four essays are devoted to the at times difficult interactions of post-Soviet women with Western relief organizations.
Revolutionary Russia. New Approaches. Ed. by Rex A. Wade. [Rewriting Histories.] Routledge, New York [etc.] 2004. xxii, 275 pp. Maps. £16.99.
This volume in the Rewriting Histories series contains eleven essays, published previously over the past twenty years, bringing together the results of current trends in interpretation of the October revolution, while introducing readers to its basic history as well. In addition to recent perspectives in social history, examples are included of recent cultural and linguistic approaches, in addition to the emerging "integrative" and "new political" ones. Each essay is preceded by an introduction by the editor.
Yekelchyk, Serhy. Stalin's Empire of Memory. Russian-Ukrainian Relations in the Soviet Historical Imagination. University of Toronto Press, Toronto [etc.] 2004. xx, 231 pp. Ill. $50.00; £32.00.
Using the Ukrainian republic as a case study, Yekelchyk analyses the Stalinist politics of memory. The author combines archival research with the use of literary works and artistic images in an attempt to unveil the mechanisms of the institutionalization of official historical memory. In their complex interaction with the Kremlin, he sees local bureaucrats and non-Russian intellectuals as major forces in shaping the Stalinist historical imagination.
Spain
Las Brigadas Internacionales. El contexto internacional, los medios de propaganda, Literatura y Memorias. Coords: Manuel Requena Gallego [y] Rosa Maria Sepúlveda Losa. [La Luz de la memoria, 1.] Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca 2003. 213 pp. Ill. € 15.00.
This volume contains 13 contributions to the second Foro Internacional sobre las Brigadas Internacionales, organized in October 2001. Participants included Paul Preston, Antonio Elorza, Marta Bizcarrondo and Rémy Skoutelsky. The gathering covered a broad scope: the international context in the 1930s, the military, propaganda and representation of the Brigades through press, cinema and literature and the return of the volunteers to their homeland. Testimonies from various veterans are included, as are views about the Brigades among selected political parties represented in the parliament.
La cultura popular en la España contemporánea. Doce estudios. Ed. Jorge Uría. [Historia Biblioteca Nueva.] Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid 2003. 302 pp. € 18.00.
This volume comprises 12 contributions to a scholarly gathering organized in part by the Asociación de Historia Contemporánea and the University of Oviedo in 2002. The objective was to provide a platform for an interdisciplinary discussion of historians, anthropologists, sociologists and linguists about popular culture, which is just beginning to be studied in Spain. The book is divided into three sections: traditional culture, covering themes such as religious perception and carnival; commercialization of popular culture from the Restoration until 1939, including labour culture, cultural policy and other fields; popular culture under Francoism, including mass culture, the popular press and manifestations of criticism against the regime.
Díez Torre, Alejandro R. Orígenes del cambio regional y turno del pueblo Aragón, 1900-1938. Volumen I: Confederados. Orígenes del cambio regional de Aragón, 1900-1936. Volumen II: Solidarios. Un turno de pueblo Aragón, 1936-1938. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid; Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, Zaragoza; Librería UNED, Madrid 2003. 457 pp; 595 pp. Ill. € 54.00.
This is a revised and extended edition of the dissertation "Crisis Regional y regionalización, el Consejo de Aragón". In his introduction the author sketches the inhospitable natural surroundings in Aragón that provided insufficient means of subsistence to the agrarian population. In the nineteenth century this context gave rise to modernization trends influenced both by the ideas of Joaquín Costa and by anarchism. The first volume describes the emergence of the CNT and autonomism in Aragón during the Republic, the second examines the social revolution during the Civil War and the actions of the regional administration set up by the anarcho-syndicalists with broad popular support and neutralized by the central government. See also José Luis Gutiérrez Molina's review in this volume, pp. 304-307.
Kailin, Clarence. Recordando a John Cookson. Un antifascista de Wisconsin en la guerra civil española, 1937-1938. Trad. del ingles: Juan María Gómez Ortiz. [La Luz de la memoria, 2.] Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca 2003. 188 pp. Ill. € 15.00.
This is the Spanish translation of "Remembering John Cookson, a Wisconsin Anti-Fascist in the Spanish Civil War", which the editor published in a limited, private edition for his friends. Cookson (1913-1938), who took a degree in physics, joined the signal corps of the Lincoln Brigade in early 1937 and was killed during the Ebro offensive. Kailin, his childhood friend, wrote about their friendship in this book and has gathered testimonies from fellow combatants and published 60 letters from Cookson to his family, shedding light on his views and observations.
Switzerland
Boesch, Ina. Gegenleben. Die Sozialistin Margarethe Hardegger und ihre politischen Bühnen. Chronos, Zürich 2003. 436 pp. Ill. € 32.00.
In this biographical study of Margarethe Hardegger (1882-1963), Swiss socialist and anarchist activist, the author gives in the first part a chronological sketch of her life and offers in the second part short sketches in alphabetical order of the wide variety of political organizations, groups and networks in which she was active during her life. Hardegger, the first female secretary of the Schweizerische Gewerkschaftsbund (SGB), the Swiss trade union confederation, had connections with individuals and organizations covering a broad leftist spectrum, encompassing the radical socialist Gustav Landauer, the anarchist Erich Mühsam, the socialist physician Fritz Brupbacher and the pacifist Gertrud Woker.