Much of the material broadcast or written to mark the 30th anniversary of the miners’ strike has portrayed their struggle as a brave but tragic attempt to save a dying industry.

No matter how sympathetically the miners, their families and their supporters are portrayed, that view of their battle against Thatcher’s government onslaught does a massive disservice to the momentous struggle they conducted.

It is absolutely vital for the struggles of future generations of trade unionists and socialist militants that a balance sheet of the strike is drawn. Millions of ordinary working-class people, the miners and their families carried out heroic endeavors during the strike. This book shows the miners were right to take the action they did. They could have won a victory which would have raised the sights and confidence of the whole working-class movement.

A reprint of the main articles from the original 1988 pamphlet:

A history of the union - the seafarers stormy past
Lessons of the P&O strike
Fighting for unions democracy
The need for a fighting trade union leadership
Putting ship safety before bosses profits
Dover - from moderates to militants, and more

- From back cover

Land of Whose Fathers? takes the reader from the very start of the industrial revolution in Wales right up to the turn of the 21st century in bite sized pieces and will certainly whet the appetite for deeper study. It also brings into perspective the inception to the decline of the Labour Party as a mass party of the working class.

Read the review in the Socialist no.800

A compilation of articles by campaigners fighting to stop the destruction of the NHS

Pamphlet by Leeds Socialist Party containing articles on the Leeds Gasworkers strike 1890, the Manningham Mills strike 1890-1, the Old Dog Strike 1909, the Yeadon lockout 1913 and the Leeds Corporation strike 1913. Includes a foreword by Joel Heyes, Secretary of Leeds TUC

"The past few years have seen a resurgence of the trade union movement, with one of the largest ever trade union organised demonstrations and large public sector strikes, as well as growing unrest in the private sector. The theme of this pamphlet is the upsurges of the union movement in the past, particularly around the textile and gas industries in West Yorkshire."

- From the introduction.

The momentous events in Liverpool 1983-7 sent shock waves across the country. Hardly a week went by without the city being in the news headlines. Financial crises, a unique house building programme, education reform, the Heysel stadium tragedy, the Sam Bond affair, the expulsion of Derek Hatton, Tony Mulhearn and others from the Labour Party, through to an 18 month court battle which ended in the surcharge and disqualification of 47 Labour councillors - all are covered in Liverpool-A City That Dared to Fight. Not only a commentary, this book is a penetrating political analysis of the growth and development of Marxism in Britain, and particularly the role of Militant in Liverpool.

In 2007, four trade unionists from different UNISON branches were publicly and unjustly accused of racism. Yet all were committed anti-racists and led well-run union branches.
Why would a trade union turn against its own activists? All four are well-known members of the Socialist Party. But this provides only part of the explanation; the bureaucracy was also driven by a desire to make the union safe for its full-time machine, and safe for the Labour Party.
This book tells the story of the ultimately victorious campaign and legal challenge that cleared them of all charges, and which exposed the true nature of UNISON’s bureaucracy.

A reprint of 1979 pamphlet originally published as a Militant pamphlet, 1979 as a contribution towards the question: Can Corbynomics lead to socialism?

We are republishing the late Andrew Glyn’s pamphlet Capitalist Crisis as a result of new layers of activists looking for an alternative to capitalism, expressed at the time of publication in the mass waves of support behind Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, as well as the massive disillusionment with the existing economic and social model capitalism offers following the financial crash of 2008-9.

This general election campaign will see a choice for those opposed to Tory austerity. The battle within Labour rages over Tony Blair’s legacy and those seeking to continue it, and supporters of Corbyn who want to see working-class political representation. In this battle, the influence of Militant has been a touchstone, showing how it is possible for working-class people to organise and win.

From Militant to the Socialist Party covers developments from the New Labour takeover to the first rumblings of the world economic crisis of 2007-08, and is the sequel to The Rise of Militant. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Stalinist regimes, capitalism’s representatives proclaimed ‘the end of history’. But the struggles of workers and young people continued. From the Liverpool Dockers’ strike to the mass movements against the invasion of Iraq, From Militant to the Socialist Party charts the fightback, and highlights the lessons of these movements for today.

As Blair and New Labour implemented neo-liberal policies, the fight for working-class political representation is a fundamental battle charted out here. As right-wing trade union leaders preached partnership with the bosses, trade union militants showed that a fighting strategy was possible. 

This book is not written from the point of view of the sidelines, but by an active participant. From Militant to the Socialist Party offers unique insight into how Marxists organised, the programme and strategy put forward at key stages of the struggle. The crucial discussions and debate among socialists as to the best way forward are drawn out here, to provide key lessons for those who want to build socialist ideas today.

Peter Taaffe is the former editor of Militant newspaper, and the general secretary of the Socialist Party. He was a founding member of the Committee for a Workers’ International, which now organises in over 40 countries, on every continent. As well as playing an active role in the struggles charted here, Peter is the author of several books, including the Rise of Militant, Liverpool a City that Dared to Fight, Cuba Socialism and Democracy, and Marxism in Today’s World.

Workers' control and workers' management is a new book by Ted Mooney, leader of the 1960 apprentices' strike - in which 100,000 young workers took part - and member of Merseyside Socialist Party.