Books published by Bookmarks Publications

Walter Rodney was almost the same age as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr when he was assassinated on 13 June 1980 in Guyana at the age of 38. Throughout his short life, he waged a relentless battle against the horrors of capitalism, for which he should be revered as one of the great black leaders of the last century. Rodney is best known for his famous book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, which he wrote in Tanzania in 1972. But he was also an influential Black Power advocate in Jamaica and in the final years of his life, he led a revolutionary struggle in Guyana. This short introduction is an overview of Rodney''s life, activism and political thought, which aims to preserve and promote his legacy. This book intends to encourage young black people especially to read about Rodney and how he used Marxism to understand racism and organise for black liberation.

More than ten years on from the Egyptian revolution of January 2011, Anne Alexander looks at the great wave of revolts that have shaken the region in the decade since, examining the political economy of the Middle East, the nature of the regimes and the factors which shaped the upheavals. Using a Marxist analysis, it examines the fate of those revolts, the emergence of counter-revolutionary forces and the potential for renewed uprisings and more far-reaching change in the years ahead. ''Anne Alexander''s book provides an in-depth account of the power structures and popular resistance in the Middle East. A must read for activists, academics and anyone who''s interested in the region''s history and future.'' Hossam el-Hamalawy

The struggle for Independence in Scotland raises profound questions about the nature and the future of the British state. This collection of essays retraces the key events in Scottish history from a Marxist perspective and examines the contradictions of the Scottish National Party, which wants Independence but only on the most cautious basis, in order to defend the interests of Scottish capitalism and its place in the world. It argues that the movement for Independence is rooted in a rejection of neo-liberalism, imperialism and racism and that, without the prospect of radical, progressive change, Independence will be an empty shell.

Three times in the last sixty years musical movements have played a vital role in confronting the rise of fascist organisations in Britain - The Stars Campaign for Interracial Friendship in the 1950s, Rock Against Racism in the late 1970s and Love Music Hate Racism in the first two decades of the 21st century. This book is a tribute to those three musical movements and the musicians, activists and youth subcultures that surrounded them, and an in-depth study of the rise of modern fascist movements and the political strategies needed to defeat them.

One of the most obscene spectacles of the Trump presidency has been that of evangelical pastors crowding round him to give him their blessing. But this is only a very public acknowledgement that he is very much their man. The 81 percent of white evangelical Christians, who made up a third of those voting for him, effectively put him in the White House. Not only did a large majority of evangelical Christians vote for him, but tens of thousands of them actively campaigned for him. How did they come to support an individual as saturated in sin as Trump?

From Bobby to Babylon, originally published in 1988, brings together a series of articles and interviews which provide the background and context to the urban rebellions which exploded across Britain in the wake of the Brixton riots of 1981, from the point of view of black people in Britain. Darcus Howe was born in Moruga, Trinidad in 1943. He came to England in 1962. For over 50 years he was a political activist and a journalist. His activism, had, as its major focus, police oppression in the black community. He took part in a Black Power rebellion in Trinidad in 1970 and became a member of the British Black Panther Movement when he returned to Britain. He came to prominence as one of the ''Mangrove Nine'', after being arrested on a march outside Notting Hill police station to protest against police raids of the Mangrove restaurant. He defended himself during the subsequent trial and famously argued that the defendants should have an all-black jury of their peers. His journalism covere

Engels was a great thinker who made a massive contribution to Marxist thought in his own right. His works cover the conditions for working class people in his adopted home of Manchester, the history of peasant struggles, philosophy, women''s oppression, science, evolution and anthropology. This book argues that they continue to provide tools to make sense of the world we live in today.

We are in the midst of the greatest environmental crisis humanity has ever seen. Yet despite politicians'' rhetoric, repeated warnings from the scientific community and countless international conferences, the situation is getting worse. This book brings together articles from leading socialist and environmental activists who argue that the problem is the capitalist system.

Alexandra Kollontai was a revolutionary socialist who devoted her life to the fight for women''s liberation and human freedom. This short introduction to Kollontai''s life argues that her revolutionary ideas and activism contain vital lessons for the struggle for socialism and women''s liberation today.

This year we will see a cascade of patriotic froth surrounding the anniversary of the First World War, which is to be reinvented as a time when the whole nation united against an external threat and through immense sacrifice and heroism triumphed. WWI was, however, a clash of empires. Both the British and the German ruling classes were prepared for any number of dead and maimed to advance their imperial interests. As Dave Sherry shows in this accessible history, working class people suffered during WWI, but also began to fight back in the Russian and German revolutions.

Newsinger challenges the claim that the British Empire was a kinder, gentler empire and suggests that the description 'rogue state' is more fitting. In a wonderful popular history of key episodes in British imperial history, he illustrates the darker side of the glory years - Britain's deep involvement in the Chinese opium trade; Gladstone's maiden parliamentary speech defending his family's slave plantation in Jamaica - paying particular attention to the strenuous efforts of the colonised to free themselves of the motherland's baleful rule.

Gramsci was the intellectual driving force of early Italian Communism. Jailed by Mussolini and with collapsing health, he laboured to produce his famous prison notebooks under the eye of the censor. His ideas - particularly his concept of hegemony - are still highly influential today. Chris Bambery provides an accessible and lively introduction to the man, his world and his ideas.