商品詳細

The years between 1939 and the early 1950s constituted the most profound and extensive cataclysm of modern times. World-wide, at least 50 million people lost their lives during World War II, the majority of them non-combatants, the scale of destruction of material values was incalculable. For many in the British armed forces, as well as for many civilians, the events of the War also raised an awareness of the differing politics of the allied nations: in particular the Soviet Union. But what was the real relationship between Britain, America and the Soviet Union before, during and after the War? Beginning with an examination of the political and economic origins of the War - the rise of Bolshevism and fascism, the fragile relationship between Britain and the USSR and the appeasement of Hitler - this book explores the impact of the War itself on the advancing labour movement of the 1940s and beyond. Wartime industrial relations are examined, focusing on Clydeside's Albion engineering works. The memoirs and published accounts of Stalin and the Red Army's role during and after the War is summarised and the history of Christian Socialism - which informed the development of labourism more than any other movement during the period - is outlined in detail. Reviews of new books by Christopher Hill, John Saville and E.P. Thompson complete this issue of "Socialist History".