The aim of this series is to bring together a variety of studies by historians and others on the development of the Left in recent times. Its eventual purpose is to provide a general survey of the impact of radical men, movements and ideas on both sides of the Atlantic. The first volumes, however, are concerned with the Left in Britain, and in particular with the evolution of the Labour Movement, whose chequered history throws so much light on problems which face the would-be reformer in any advanced society.
The projected studies will consist of four main types: the biographical, covering intellectuals as well as men of action; the structural, analysing the organization of the Left and setting its activities in their economic and social context; the ideological, exploring the role of ideas and their promoters in these activities; and the episodic, dealing with the interaction of men, movements and ideas in moments of crisis or in areas of crucial importance.
This variety of approach, and the range of research in allied disciplines drawn upon by the contributors, will make the series a fresh and stimulating source of information not only for the student but for anyone interested in the nature of politics and society in the Western world.
1971