The SSLH publishes the book series Studies in Labour History in association with Liverpool University Press. We also publish book reviews in our journal, the Labour History Review.
The articles below draw attention to new books, reports, pamphlets, and online publications and projects of interest to labour historians.
More than sixty years after his death, Aneurin Bevan remains a core figure in the story of the Labour Party and the left. A book by Nye Davies that sets out to explore Bevan’s political thinking appears this autumn and is to be launched at an event hosted by Llafur, the Welsh People’s History Society, in Bevan’s home town of Tredegar. Published by the University … Continue reading Book launch: the political thought of Aneurin Bevan
From equal pay to the Beeching cuts, Labour’s record in office has been distinctly mixed. Here, Richard Temple introduces his new book, drawing on a century-long record of government to provide a balanced assessment of the party’s impact on ordinary people. It’s unusual to remember the exact moment when you have an idea for a book. But I remember mine. It was prompted by the … Continue reading Taken as Red: Highs and Lows of the Labour Party, 1924-2019
The minutes of a succession of socialist societies in West Norfolk between 1897 and 1916 have been published. Continue reading Norfolk socialist societies, 1897-1916
The Liverpool University Press summer sale is now on. LUP, the Society’s partner in publishing Labour History Review and the Studies in Labour History book series, is offering up to 50% off print and ebooks purchased on its website. Use discount code ‘27SUMMER’ at checkout. Sale ends 14th July! ☀️ See books in the Studies in Labour History book series. Go to the LUP website. Continue reading Liverpool University Press summer sale
Hugh Clegg was a founding figure of post-war British industrial relations. He defined ‘industrial democracy’ as collective bargaining with trade unions, laid the foundations for the pluralist approach to industrial relations, was a key figure in the post-war social sciences, and a major public policy player. In a new book, Trade Unions and the British Industrial Relations Crisis, Peter Ackers, Emeritus Professor in the History … Continue reading Hugh Clegg: intellectual biography of a key figure in industrial relations and labour history
The Irish Labour History Society (ILHS) embarked on an ambitious programme to mark its fiftieth anniversary involving an international conference in Dublin titled ‘Visions of Labour and Class’ and a collection of essays exploring the role of labour history in Irish historical narratives – Labour History in Irish History (reviewed in Labour History Review). Both were graced by the involvement of Irish President, Michael D. … Continue reading Visions of labour and class in Ireland and Europe: conference proceedings
A crowdfunded graphic novel on the ‘raw, intense and often shockingly violent’ fight for the right to vote has hit its funding target within a matter of days of going live. Titled COURAGE: Luddites – Peterloo – Chartists – Suffragettes, the book is the work of Polyp, the Manchester-based illustrator and cartoonist previously responsible for graphic novels on Peterloo and the life of Thomas Paine. … Continue reading From Luddites to Suffragettes: a graphic tale of the fight for the vote
Neil Horsley introduces a project documenting the repurposing of derelict textile mills across the North of England. Over the past three years I have visited, photographed and interviewed mill renovators at thirty-three mill conversions across the North of England for a project titled Mills Transformed. The focus of the project was initially on the physical aspects of building regeneration schemes but what became apparent to … Continue reading Mills Transformed: new uses for buildings that shaped the North of England
Liverpool University Press and the Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School have been trying to make trade union history accessible again with a history of UNITE published in six cheap paperback volumes (each retails at £6.99) from 2022 onwards. We reviewed the first two volumes which covered the history of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, the core of UNITE, from 1880 to 1931 in … Continue reading UNITE the Union: a history in six volumes
Britain has experienced continual crises for half a century, argues Neville Kirk. His new book examines the development of neo-liberal globalisation from the 1970s; the financial crash and its systemic effects from 2007 to 2009; and the ‘present crisis’ beginning in 2010. Here he introduces the book and the three crises at its heart. We currently live in a period often described, since 2022, as … Continue reading British society in crisis: from 1970s globalisation to the Brexit referendum
Society for the Study of Labour History 