Synopses & Reviews
This volume of essays by a number of the foremost experts in the field examines the varieties of anti-fascism in inter-war Britain. Anti-fascism between the wars is still most frequently associated with the extreme left and its violent street confrontations with Mosley's British Union of Fascists. By extending the scope of anti-fascism to include center and right-wing opinion, and a wide range of institutions, this book breaks new ground. Chapters examine the state, political parties of left and right, the media, the churches, the involvement of women, and the responses of intellectuals. It also discusses the impact of European anti-fascist exiles and the legacy of anti-fascism on the post-war British Establishment.This volume examines the varieties of anti-fascism in inter-war Britain. Ordinarily anti-fascism is defined in terms of anti-fascist activism. By extending the scope of the concept, this book breaks new ground. Chapters examine political parties, the state, the media, women, the churches, and intellectuals.
About the Author
NIGEL COPSEY is Reader in Modern History at Teesside University. He is the author of Anti-Fascism in Britain (Basingstoke: (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2000), Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy (Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2004; 2008), and co-editor of British Fascism, the Labour Movement and the State (Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2005). ANDRZEJ OLECHNOWICZ has research interests in the social and cultural history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain. His current research lies in two areas: the evolution and character of the British monarchy since 1837, seeking to understand its popularity and influence in shaping national identity; and notions of 'leisure', 'community' and 'mass society' in inter-war Britain.
Table of Contents
Preface
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Historians and the Study of Anti-fascism; A.Olechnowicz
PART I: POLITICAL PARTIES
Communist Culture and Anti-fascism in Inter-war Britain; T. Linehan
'Every time they made a Communist, they made a Fascist': the Labour Party and Popular Anti-fascism in the 1930s; N.Copsey
The Conservative Party, Fascism and Anti-fascism 1918-1939; P.Williamson
PART II: CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE STATE
Varieties of Feminist Responses to Fascism in inter-war Britain; J.Gottlieb
'I was following the lead of Jesus Christ': Christian Anti-fascism in 1930s England; T.Lawson
'It certainly isn't cricket!': Media Responses to Mosley and the BUF; J.Dack
Passive and Active Anti-fascism: the State and National Security, 1923-45; R.Thurlow
PART III: INTELLECTUAL RESPONSES
Anti-fascist Europe comes to Britain: Theorising Fascism as a Contribution to Defeating it; D.Stone
Labour Theorises Fascism: A.D. Lindsay and Harold Laski; A.Olechnowicz
The Limits of Pro-fascism and Anti-fascism: G.K. Chesterton and Arthur Bryant; J.Stapleton
PART IV: FINAL PERSPECTIVES
Anti-fascism and the Post-war British Establishment; R.Griffiths
Conclusion: Towards a New Anti-fascist 'minimum'?; N.Copsey
Index