Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward

From William Morris to Oscar Wilde to George Orwell, left-libertarian thought has long been an important but neglected part of British cultural and political history. In Anarchist Seeds beneath the Snow, David Goodway seeks to recover and revitalize that indigenous anarchist tradition. This book succeeds as simultaneously a cultural history of left-libertarian thought in Britain and a demonstration of the applicability of that history to current politics. Goodway argues that a recovered anarchist tradition could - and should - be a touchstone for contemporary political radicals. Moving seamlessly from Aldous Huxley and John Cowper Powys to the war in Iraq, this challenging volume will energize leftist movements throughout Britain and the rest of the world.

David Goodway is a historian based at the University of Leeds. He is the author of London Chartism, 1838–1848 and the editor of For Anarchism: History, Theory, and Practice as well as Herbert Read Reassessed.