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The enduring power of radical ideas
PHIL KATZ applauds the biography of a man of principle that is a vibrant excavation of the radical tradition itself
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A L Morton and the Radical Tradition
James Crossley, Palgrave Macmillan, £89
JAMES CROSSLEY has done it again. With A L Morton and the Radical Tradition, he delivers a masterful biography that not only resurrects the life and legacy of a pivotal figure in British radical history, but also revitalises the study of English political thought.
Crossley, known for his incisive explorations of figures as diverse as Jesus and John Ball, turns his scholarly gaze to Arthur Leslie Morton, a historian, activist, and intellectual whose work shaped the socialist imagination for generations. This book is not just a biography; it is a vibrant excavation of the radical tradition itself, told through the life of a man who was both its chronicler and its champion.
Morton is best known for his seminal works, A People’s History of England (1938) and The English Utopia (1952). The former, a sweeping narrative of English history from the perspective of the common people, has been a gateway to socialism for countless readers, including this reviewer. Crossley’s study reveals Morton not merely as a historian of radicalism but as a participant in its unfolding drama.
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