A Weapon In The Struggle: The Cultural History of the British Communist Party

For over 70 years, the Communist Party of Great Britain had an extraordinary impact on British cultural life, exercising an influence quite out of proportion to its size or political influence. Many art forms were revitalized or profoundly changed, new ones were established or shaped by groups and individuals associated with the party. They brought a dynamism and vision to cultural production - whether in music, film, theatre or literature - that helped lay the foundations of a new radical culture, a progressive avant garde in which the struggle was to produce a culture for and of the people, in the front line of the battle of ideas. This volume recounts the histories of the artists, poets and cultural visionaries of the period, placing them in a broader historical context and providing an introduction to British social and cultural history in the 20th century.