Russia And The British Left: From The 1848 Revolutions To The General Strike Hardcover

David Burke

The study of native `Marxisms' in Britain throws light on what many historians have referred to as `the enemy within'. In this book, David Burke looks at the activities of the Russian political emigre community in Britain, and in particular the role of one Russian-Jewish political family: the Rothsteins. Theodore Rothstein and his son Andrew, along with his sister-in-law Zelda Kahan and her husband, W. P. Coates, together played an important part in the formative years of the Communist Party of Great Britain and were closely monitored by the British secret service. This led to claims that British communism was effectively a Russian creation with Theodore Rothstein acting as the eminence grise; the hidden hand of Moscow controlling the British left-wing movement. In 1920 Theodore Rothstein's activities on the left of the British labour movement assisted the formation of a Communist party in Britain affiliated to the Comintern. Theodore was, soon after, effectively debarred from Britain following a visit to Russia, at which point his clandestine political activities passed to his son, Andrew. This book encompasses two periods. The first looks at the contribution of Theodore Rothstein to British Marxism and the response of the British intelligence services, Special Branch and MI5, to what they regarded as a serious threat to British security. The second part probes Andrew Rothstein's subsequent career, and considers four main events: the formation of the Anglo-Russian Committee in 1924, the Zinoviev Letter, the General Strike of 1926 and the ARCOS Raid of 1927, and concluding with Andrew Rothstein joining his father in Moscow in 1930. With access to recently released documents from MI5, this book sheds new light on the activities of British Marxists against the backdrop of the early twentieth century and brings to life the story of a remarkable family.

9781788310642

English

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

30-Apr-18

304

David Burke is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Salford and Leeds. He holds a PhD from University of Greenwich.

`The contribution of Russian political emigres to the development of the British communist tradition has finally been given the attention it deserves. Through his long standing interest in Theodore Rothstein, and by making extensive use of Security Service files, David Burke has deepened our understanding of British responses to the Russian Revolution.' - Geoff Andrews, author of The Shadow Man, `Excellent ... really well written and delves very deep into the Rothsteins' lives ... the archival basis of the study makes it genuinely original. The book is well conceived, neatly structured and astute in its analysis.' - Matthew Worley, Professor of Modern History, University of Reading