What is postmodernism? What are the reasons for its attractiveness? In Defense of History is a compelling challenge to postmodern fashion, written by new intellectuals on the left who are reviving historical materialism as an alternative.

Part 1 Introduction - what is the "postmodern" agenda? Ellen Meiksins Wood. Part 2 Postmodernism and intellectuals: where do postmodernists come from? Terry Eagleton; language, history and class struggle, David McNally; the politics of cultural studies, Francis Mulhern; culture, nationalism, and the role of intellectuals, Aijaz Ahmad interviewed I; old positions/new necessities - history, class and Marxist metanarrative, Bryan D. Palmer; against social de(con)struction of science - cautionary tales from the Third World, Meera Nanda. Part 3 Postmodernism and movements: issues of class and culture, Aijaz Ahmad interviewed II; the mirror of race - postmodernism and the celebration of difference, Kenan Malik; postmodernism, feminism and Marx - notes from the abyss, Carol A. Stabile; Marx and the environment, John Bellamy Foster; northern intellectuals and the EZLN, Daniel Nugent; five thesis on actually existing Marxism, Frederic Jameson. Part 4 Afterword: in defense of history, John Bellamy Foster.