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“The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies” – book review
Andy Beckett’s The Searchers provides a thoughtful consideration of five leaders of the Labour left, their relation to mass movements, and political impact, finds Kevin Crane.
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‘The Dreadful History and Judgement of God on Thomas Müntzer: The Life and Times of an Early German Revolutionary’ – book review
An excellent history of the sixteenth-century radical Thomas Müntzer brings the radical Reformation and the dawn of the modern era into focus, finds Dominic Alexander.
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Red Traces, Part 17: The golden age of Islamic science
Medieval Muslim thinkers ironically provided the intellectual foundations for the rise of the West, writes Sean Ledwith.
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“The Wild Men: The Remarkable Story of Britain’s First Labour Government” – Book Review
An establishment friendly history of the first Labour government, in 1924, shows how willingly a Labour leadership can be captured by the ruling class, finds John Westmoreland.
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NATO’s spiralling commitments to Ukraine risk catastrophe
We are on the possible verge of a major escalation in the war in the Ukraine, one which risks war between NATO and Russia, and one involving nuclear weapons, argues Chris Bambery.
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Assange victorious in High Court
The threat of immediate extradition has been lifted in today’s ruling against the U.S. government, reports John Rees from the court.
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On the edge of the ‘climate abyss’
With scientists warning of imminent catastrophe, it is time to stop expecting our rulers to change course by persuasion; only militant anti-capitalism will work, argues John Clarke.
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Canada faces another grim wildfire season
The wildfires in Canada kept burning all winter, and a new season is set to be catastrophic, as climate feedback loops accelerate disaster, warns John Clarke.
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“Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom” – book review
Vulture Capitalism demolishes the idea of the ‘free market’ in the corporate age, but has limitations in its analysis of capitalism and how to challenge it, argues Dominic Alexander.
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NATO 75th Anniversary: A guarantor of war
The 75th anniversary of Nato’s founding is no cause for celebration, argues Chris Bambery, amid the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Ukraine quagmire and U.S. efforts to re-assert its global dominance.
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Preconditions for disaster: “A People’s History of Covid” – extract
In this first of two extracts from Terina Hine’s new book, “A People’s History of Covid”, the impact of inequality and neoliberalism in the UK on the spread of Covid is outlined
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“The Reckoning: From the Second Slavery to Abolition, 1776-1888” – book review
The Reckoning is a magnificent conclusion to a quartet of books on New World slavery, explaining the role of slavery and its abolition in the rise of American power, finds Chris Bambery.
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Central bank independence as class war strategy
Insulated from popular discontent, independent central banks have free reign to undermine workers’ rights and further the neoliberal agenda, argues John Clarke.
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Nato’s insatiable expansionism: The bombing of Yugoslavia 25 years on
Nato’s war against Yugoslavia in 1999 was a prelude to the war in Ukraine, says Dragan Plavšić.
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‘Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World’ – book review
Naomi Klein’s exploration of the spread of conspiracy theory and the ‘other Naomi’ is baggy but contains useful insights, argues Lindsey German.
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Jewish activist told to remove Palestine flag responds
Last week, police in south London knocked on the door of a Jewish resident, Tamar, and asked her to remove a pro-Palestine sign and flag from the window of her home. She refused and delivered this speech at a rally this weekend in response .
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The man in whose shadow Netanyahu walks
Israel is unlikely to stop its assault on Gaza without massive pressure, and the reasons are rooted in the history of Zionism, argues Chris Bambery.
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Sexism and the system: Women speak out
For International Women’s Day, Counterfire asked women activists their views on the state of the struggle for women’s liberation. We are publishing a selection of answers over the weekend.
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Social crisis underlies Pakistan’s election upset
Pakistan’s stalemated election showed that its ruling class is unable to contain the cascading social crisis in the country, but a genuine alternative is lacking, argues John Clarke.
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Palestine ‘a crappy piece of land’ claim sparks outrage
The resignation of a provincial minister in Canada over anti-Palestinian comments marks a victory for the Palestine solidarity movement, reports John Clarke.