Class Struggle in South London, 1850-1900 by Dave Russell and Mike Tichelar, SouthwarkLambeth History Workshop, £1 THE last half of the nineteenth century saw for the first time the birth of continuous trade union and working class. political organisation in Britain.
"The period began with the decline of the Chartist struggles and the channelling of revolutionary politics into • relatively peaceful political reform. Conditions Many of the social conditions described in phlet apply generally to nineteenth century capitalism: the endemic alcoholism the poor; the sweated trades - graphically described in a agitated to overcome 'evils. give sociai and political perspective to the specific inand South London working class. the pamThe growing ation of the skilled workers is among illustrated descriptions of events of the period:
these through the skills the shops creased men to réceive the vote. sophisticthrough the Southwark of 1867 which involved largedisobedience ransacking of and which led to phlet pressure for working meetings of branches Democratic *The 1889 dock strike in when labourers organised for the first time, coming out in their thousands The early working class parties and organisations are asset descented. The first describes, South • of the Federation Britain's first Marxist group which pioneered political character that South London was later to develop as a base for radical clubs and And early trade unions are : recorded: the development of Lambeth Trades Council; the pleas of Bermondsey's Committee; and the forma of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants in Southwark.
interesting and readable collection of DOOKICL worthy of reading beyond London. serves to remind us not only of the background to today's labour movement, but also of the lessons and tactics to be employed.
Graham Norwood