Edward Vallance
Abacus
2009
639 pages
A Radical History of Britain is, like the title promises, a historical survey of politically radical activity occurring in England. The book begins in the year 878 with a chapter on King Alfred the Great, who in that year was hiding out during an invasion of vikings into his kingdom. Vallance referred to Alfred as “the first British radical” due to his deep ability to sympathize with his people and eventually send a conquering force back to Denmark. A Radical History then follows through the centuries, noting successive waves of radical activity at every historical turn, right up until the 2000s with various anti-globalization and anti-war activities. A Radical History of Britain is a lengthy historical survey that stands as an English equivalent to Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States in its purpose and scope.
Edward Vallance is, according to the website biography he wrote of himself, a historian of early modern Britain. He has also written a book about the English revolution of 1688. Unlike Zinn, he makes no particular claim towards focusing his career as a historian on radical history although he has appeared as an expert commentator in British media on aspects of contemporary and historical radicalism.
A Radical History of Britain is a straightforward, comprehensive, historical survey of British radicalism with virtually all of the great peasant uprisings and industrial worker strikes, as well as chapters on the important 17th century radical movements such as the Diggers and Ranters, and the later 19th century Luddites and Chartists, all of whom are still frequently referred to by their modern-day equivalents. The book is exhaustive in its study of these movements.
Where the book falters is in its treatment of the post-WWII period, where Vallance mostly focuses on the rise of the Labour party as a mainstream political force. England has been home to some of the fiercest anti-corporate, environmental, and animal rights protest movements in the world, and there’s no mention of, for example, the McLibel trial or anti-genetic modification protests that have even involved Prince Charles. Other missing features of England’s recent radical history include Reclaim the Streets and the revitalization of anarchism in the late 70s by certain punk bands (especially with groups like Crass, one of the most intensely serious political bands in music history). Anyone who is interested in these subjects will have to look elsewhere (like Naomi Klein’s No Logo), for the older forms of radical activity.......however, this is a good book.
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