Reform, Revolution and Direct Action amongst British Miners

Download or read book Reform, Revolution and Direct Action amongst British Miners written by Martyn Ives and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-09-07 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Reform, Revolution and Direct Action amongst British Miners, Martyn Ives offers a new perspective on one of the most volatile periods in labour history. His research into the astonishing coalfield militancy of 1919 reveals it was a watershed year on a par with 1926. Indeed the General Strike was in many ways merely its dim echo. Whilst historians have skated over the labour unrest of 1919, Martyn Ives uncovers a remarkable incidence of unofficial mass strikes in the coalfields, waged against mine-owners, government and trade union leaders alike. Led by revolutionaries, and infused with political radicalism, this mass movement offered a glimpse of an alternative road to socialism, based upon the organised industrial power of the working class.