A New Notion: Two Works by C. L. R. James Every Cook Can Govern and The Invading Socialist Society

Portraying C. L. R. James as a leading figure in the independence movement in the West Indies and in the black and working-class movements in both Britain and the United States, this volume provides an extensive introduction to James's life and thought before presenting two critical works that illustrate the tremendous breadth and depth of his worldview. Both long-out-of-print pamphlets display James's contributions to Marxist and revolutionary theory as he documents and elaborates on the aspects of working-class activity that constitute the revolution in today's world. Fully encapsulating James's thoughts on democracy and workers' emancipation, these essential works represent the principal themes that run through James's life: implacable hostility toward all "condescending saviors" of the working class and an underlying faith in the power of ordinary people to build a new world.

C. L. R. James is a major figure in Pan-Africanism and the author of a wide array of fiction and nonfiction, including Beyond a Boundary, A Majestic Innings: Writings on Cricket, and The Nobbie Stories for Children and Adults. Noel Ignatiev is a teacher at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the editor of Lesson of the Hour: Wendell Phillips on Abolition and Strategy, and the author of How the Irish Became White. He lives in Boston.