Voluntarios por la revolución
CHRISTOPHER HALL welcomes a new book on the role of POUM volunteers in the Spanish Civil War that includes a detailed account of the ILP contingent....
The ILP and the Spanish Civil War
Even after 80 years the role of the ILP in the Spanish Civil War is still a controversial topic. Its role was minor, says CHRISTOPHER HALL, but the contribution and sacrifice of ILP volunteers deserves to be remembered. George Orwell’s ‘Homage to Catalonia’ is still the most famous and most read book about the Spanish...
New Edition of Land and Freedom
The ILP has published a new expanded edition of its popular Spanish Civil War pamphlet Land and Freedom, including a brief profile of the ILP volunteer Stafford Cottman written by historian and author Christopher Hall....
Orwell’s Complex Commander
Georges Kopp was George Orwell’s commander when he fought with the ILP contingent in the Spanish Civil War. A new biography reveals a brave man of many parts and much mystery, as CHRISTOPHER HALL explains. Anyone who has read Homage to Catalonia, or any major biography on Orwell, will have come across several mentions of...
Bob Smillie: A Moving Tribute to a Brave Man
MARIADO HINOJOSA reports on a day of tribute and remembrance in Valencia on Tuesday 14 May when one of the ILP’s most prominent Spanish Civil War volunteers was honoured with a specially commissioned plaque in the cemetery that holds his grave. Like all stories of idealism and fraternity, this is also a story of love...
The ILP, POUM and the May Days of the Spanish Civil War
With a plaque to their memory due to be re-dedicated later this month, DAVID CONNOLLY tells the story of the ILP volunteers in the Spanish Civil War and their connection to POUM....
ILP@120: Bob Edwards – A Lifetime on the Left
From Liverpool ILP to the House of Commons via Russia, Spain and the USA, Bob Edwards was politically active all his life. CHRIS HALL retraces his long journey. Bob Edwards had a remarkably long political life. He was a member of the ILP ‘Guild of Youth’, then became an ILP member and a Labour Party...
ILP@120: Stafford Cottman – ‘A warm and generous man’
CHRIS HALL recalls the life of a genuine, nice guy, ILPer and Spanish Civil War veteran Stafford Cottman. I feel very honoured to write a brief biography about Staff Cottman – ILP activist, Spanish Civil War veteran, socialist, internationalist, trade unionist, personal friend of George Orwell, Labour Party activist, and a genuine, nice guy....
In Spain with Orwell
BARRY WINTER reviews Chris Hall’s latest book on the ILP and the Spanish Civil War....
Two Hundred Brigaders Pay Homage to Orwell
Over 200 people assembled at the Manchester Conference Centre on Saturday 2 March to take part in the annual IBMT (International Brigade Memorial Trust) Len Crome Lecture. The title of the day’s conference was ‘Homage to Catalonia 75 years on’....
Disaffiliation and its aftermath
For all its fascinating detail and insights, IAN BULLOCK wants more from Gidon Cohen’s The Failure of a Dream This account of the ILP in the 1930s begins with an outline of the party’s history during the seven years between leaving the Labour Party and the outbreak of war. The second chapter looks at...
The Failure of a Dream
A recent book provides a “just about” convincing argument that the ILP’s decline in the 1930s was not an inevitable consequence of disaffiliation. CHRISTOPHER HALL reviews Gidon Cohen’s welcome attempt to fill a gap in ILP history The history of the Independent Labour Party from its foundation until it was disaffiliated from the Labour...