them. They had their representatives in parliament where they were needed because it was their taxes that were essential to the government, but Charles I asserted the 'divine right of kings' and allowed them no say in his policy.
So the first revolution was this excluded class, somewhat reluctantly and without meaning to do it, taking the power it had been denied. When Charles I was restored, he came back at the invitation of a parliament that his father had treated with scom: that was a measure of how things had changed in just twenty years.
Rather less reluctant agents of change were the common people. From the start, the people of London, a teeming metropolis of half a million - craftsmen, artisans, servants, sailors, and a vast mass of the poor living on the very margins, - were active players in the struggle against the king. They rioted, they mobilised and they provided the people to tum back the first attacks of the aristocratled armies of Charles I.
They were not 'workers' in the modem sense, and there would be no working class until the industrial revolution. But they understood where their interests lay. They provided the driving force that compelled the parlia mentarians to follow through the logic of their struggle. appealed to the crown for their remedy. nary in that they developed political some never-existent golden age,
Freedom. He wrote: to rule in tyranny. But that the
oppressed might be set free, prison doors opened, and the poor people's
sent of making the earth a common
one house united in brotherly love."
tionary in 1649, and we might suggest, still so in 2003.
that the underlying processes of our
in our history.
threat of terrorism.
t was revolution enough that such
people should play any part in politics - throughout medieval times there had been peasant revolts, but these looked backwards, and normally The new movements were extraordiideas which, instead of looking back to
Tracy to flourish. looked forward to a more egalitarian future. In 1649, Gerrard Winstanley and his Digger movement occupied common land at St George's Hill (Walton, Surrey) and tried to set up a commune. The army broke them up. But Winstanley published his political theory in The Law of "The people have not laid out their monies nor shed their blood that their landlords should still have liberty hearts comforted by an universal contreasury, that they may live together as
Such sentiments were truly revoluinternational crises
It was thanks to Christopher Hill both history should be understood: and that the action of the people as a force for social progress should be understood as having a long and honourable part Never has the battle for hearts and minds been more important. PIERS MOSTYN looks at new books that will help in this struggle. Read Iraq: a Report from the Inside by Dilip Hiro (Granta 2003, £8.99) and find out how the USA and Britain spent 12 years using every single conceivable method to take control of Iraq - sanctions, coups, terrorism, bombing campaigns and popular revolts. The invasion is happening now because all the other approaches failed and a more favourable political climate was created by Washington's lurch to the right and September I 2001 - not because of weapons inspections or the supposed
It also shows how the imperialists - or at least their spin doctors - have consistently underestimated the underlying strength of Iraqi nationalism. What else explains the resilience of a despot like Saddam Hussein?
Why hasn't the regime crumbled on the numerous occasions when internal crises have combined with immense external pressure? This factor will help determine how easily the invaders take final control. It also explains why Bush and Blair have absolutely no intention of allowing democHiro's excellent book is well comple. mented by Before & after: US Foreign Policy and the War on Terrorism by Phyllis Bennis (Arris Books 2003 £12.99). This outlines the historical and political roots of the US war drive - tying it in with oil interests, the Israeli state and inter-imperialist rivalry. It combines a global overview and theoreti cal analysis of the dynamics involved with an appreciation of the ramifications for almost every continent in the world
It highlights the continuities and discontinuities between current US strategy and that prior to September 11, demonstrating that the "unilateralist turn" of the Bush administration is something of a myth.
There is a long history of America setting its face against international institutions, clashing frequently with France, Russia and China on Iraq, in particular. And there is an ongoing footnote in Britain's loyal support throughout all the twists and turns of these
Blair and his spinners tried to explain away the crisis caused by massive public opposition, as caused by Bush's rhetorical style or the rightwingers he happens to have around him. This in turn purports to justify a notion that Britain can act as a sort of counter-balance. Readers of this book will be disabused of any such illusion. But it also shows how international opposition has stymied previous attempts by US imperialism to impose its will.
Noam Chomsky provides the foreword to Before and After. He's also got a new book out. Power and Terror: Post 9/11 Talks and Interviews (7 Stories Press/Little More, 2003, €7.99). In a colloquial and polemic style he demystifies US and British imperialism in the modern world, in particular making links between the current war drive and events between the 1960s and 1990s in Latin America, Turkey, Israel and South East Asia.
For a short, jargon-free and highly accessible book outlining the arguments against war you will find few better than Against War with Iraq by Michael Ratner, Jennie Green and Barbara Olshanshky (7 Stories Press, 2003, £4.99).
Their perspective is one of upholding international law through the UN, diplomacy, the International Criminal Court and universal disarmament. At the centre of this concise overview is an analysis that Washington is attempting to redraw the map of the world to fit its own interests. It is well-sourced, with a wealth of information including very useful anti-war movement websites and books.
And don't forget to recharge your batteries for the next march or meeting with 101 Poems Against War (Faber, 2003, (8.99). Revisit old favourites like Wilfried Owen and Pastor Martin Niemoller ("First they came for the Jews/but I didn't speak up because I was not a jew," etc) and discover how much more power they pack in the middle of an actual war.
The words stop being a remembered GCSE text and become anguished, living propaganda. Go further and dip into Brecht's class-based analysis. Or be moved by reflections on Vietnam.
The universality and diversity of themes, from intensely personal to global, from Ancient Greece to late 20th Century, gener ates a creative internal debate on the meaning of such catastrophic events. And it reminds us to pose questions as well as to look for answers.
I bought two of these books in local branches of national book chain stores which had used them for prominent window displays. These companies see profits to be made in stocking this literature. Take advantage of the opportunity and encourage your high street to become a centre for anti-imperialist learning. Yet another way of reaching the parts that other anti-war activity cannot reach!
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