British labour history has been one of the dominating areas of historical research in the last sixty years and this book, written in honour of Professor Chris Wrigley, offers a collection of essays written by leading British labour historians of that subject including Ken Brown, Malcolm Chase and Matthew Worley. It focuses upon trade unionism, the co-operative movement, the rise and fall of the Labour Party, and working-class lives, comparing British labour movements with those in Germany and examining the social and political labour activities of the Lansburys. There is, indeed, some important work connected with the cultural developments of the British labour movement, most obviously in the essay written by Matthew Worley on communism and Punk Rock.

Chris Wrigley: a tributeProfessor the Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, FBAChris Wrigley: a personal reflectionProfessor Margaret WalshAcknowledgementsList of abbreviationsIntroductionKeith Laybourn and John Shepherd1 George Howell, the Webbs and the political culture of early labour historyMalcolm Chase2 The appointment of Herbert Gladstone as Liberal Chief Whip in 1899Kenneth D. Brown3 A question of neutrality? The politics of co-operation in northeast England, 1881-1926Joan Allen4 Transforming the unemployed: trade union benefits and the advent of state policyNoel Whiteside5 The trade union contribution to the British Labour PartyAndrew Thorpe6 The disaffiliation crisis of 1932: the Labour Party, the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and the opinion of ILP membersKeith Laybourn7 Voices in the wilderness? The Progressive League and the quest for sexual reform in British politics, 1932-59Janet Shepherd8 Working-class culture in Britain and Germany, 1870-1914: a comparisonDick Geary9 Women at work: activism, feminism and the rise of the female office worker during the First World War and its immediate aftermathNicole Robertson10 'We never trained our children to be socialists': the next Lansbury generation and Labour politics 1881-1951John Shepherd11 Comrades in bondage trousers: how the Communist Party of Great Britain discovered punk rock Matthew Worley12 Must Labour lose? Lessons from post-war historyKevin JefferysA select list of the publications of Chris Wrigley