Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
ON September 4 1918, the Lord Northcliffe-owned Times announced, as if surprised, the “astonishing and gratifying success” on the Western Front causing “the enemy” to be “retreating on practically the whole battle front between the Scarpe and Peronne.”
The boosting of allied military strength by a million US troops was the decisive factor, understated in the British press.
German forces had now retreated to positions they had occupied immediately before their March 21 offensive.
The General Strike exposed the power of the working class — and the limits of its leadership, writes Dr DYLAN MURPHY
CJ ATKINS commemorates one of the most dramatic moments in working-class history
In a speech to the 12th Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, SEVIM DAGDELEN warns of a growing historical revisionism to whitewash Germany and Japan’s role in WWII as part of a return to a cold war strategy from the West — but multipolarity will win out
Corbyn and Sultana’s ‘Your Party’ represents the first attempt at mass socialist organisation since the CPGB’s formation in 1921, argues DYLAN MURPHY


