DAVID YEARSLEY is fascinated by the account of four composers who transformed their experiences of the second world war and the Holocaust into deeply moving works of art
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Communists at history’s crossroads
STEVEN ANDREW reviews a book that charts the travails of Manchester communists
The CPGB's general secretary, Harry Pollitt, gives a speech to a large crowd outside the British Museum in support for the Aid to Russia Fund, 1941
[Public Domain]
PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
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JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
Re-releases from Iain Matthews, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Charlie Daniels Band
JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
Comrades Come Rally! Manchester Communists in the 1930s and 1940s
by Michael Crowley
Bookmarks £15
IF Manchester was the birthplace of capitalism, as is so often argued, then so too was it not only an important site for the emergence of, among other things, Chartism and women’s suffrage but also for its ultimate nemesis, namely scientific communism.
An exaggeration? Of course. But like many an exaggeration, it contains an element of truth — and what better way of exploring this relationship than by looking at Michael Crowley’s recently published text, documenting the history of the Communist Party in this revolutionary city during the conflict-ridden years of the 1930s and 1940s?
In 1934 the British Union of Fascists had 40,000 members and 5,000 of those were in Lancashire.
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