Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Nothing’s too good for the workers
MAT COWARD introduces the creator of the Good Food Guide, communist and crime fiction writer – Raymond Postgate
INNOVATOR: Postgate, pictured in 1970 [Fair use]

THE Good Food Guide has its roots in a unique account of the 1926 General Strike. Although edited by a prominent journalist, A Worker’s History of the Great Strike wasn’t a top-down record of events as seen from the centre but was based on direct reports from activists nationwide. 

As explained in the introduction, “In effect the writing of this book is a first essay in a form of co-operative inquiry which we believe will be to the greatest benefit of the workers if it can be extended.”

Many years later that book’s editor, Raymond Postgate, used the same proto-wiki style of knowledge pooling to create The Good Food Guide. In between and either side of those two achievements, he spent time as a political prisoner, was a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, got sued by Babycham, and became one of the most lauded writers of British crime fiction — based on just one novel.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
CAUSE AND EFFECT: Maturing apples and and apple pie / pics: (L to R) George Chernilevsky and Roozitaa both CC
Gardening / 16 August 2025
16 August 2025

As apple trees blossom to excess it remains to be seen if an abundance of fruit will follow. MAT COWARD has a few tips to see you through a nervy time
 

‘SEDITION AND BLASPHEMY’: (L to R) Blackfriars Rotunda, 1820 - view from the top of the Albion Mills; a political rowdiness / Pic (L to R): Frederick Birnie; Old and New London both Public domain
Politics / 15 August 2025
15 August 2025

While an as-yet-unnamed new left party struggles to be born, MAT COWARD looks at some of the wild and wonderful names of workers’ organisations past that have been lost to time

crime
Crime Fiction / 12 August 2025
12 August 2025

Timeloop murder, trad family MomBomb, Sicilian crime pages and Craven praise

(L to R) Wong Boks and a Chinese cabbage and tofu soup  Pics (L to R): Bayartai/CC and NeoBatfreak/CC
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

MAT COWARD presents a peculiar cabbage that will only do its bodybuilding once the summer dies down

Similar stories
HIGHLY PRINCIPLED: (Left) Gavin Henderson, 2nd Baron Faringd
Features / 28 March 2025
28 March 2025
MAT COWARD recalls the communist and pacifist aristocrat whose commitment made a difference in the Spanish civil war, the Blitz and WWII Europe
A massive gathers in Hyde Park for a meeting during the the
Features / 10 December 2024
10 December 2024
From swimming pool soviets to piano factory occupations, early 20th-century radical organiser Lillian Thring chose street battles and mass action over the electoral path, writes MAT COWARD
A PEOPLE’S ARMY: A broomstick parade on a London roof by a
Features / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
A crucial part of the war effort, the Home Guard, was launched partly due to the influence of Tom Wintringham, a revolutionary communist with a passion for DIY grenades and guerilla warfare, writes MAT COWARD
A monument to Margaret MacDonald in London
Features / 12 September 2024
12 September 2024
MAT COWARD resurrects the radical spirit of early Labour’s overlooked matriarch, whose tireless activism and financial support laid the foundations for the party’s early success