A fascinating account of life as a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain

The Lost World of British Communism is a vivid account of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Raphael Samuel, one of post-war Britain's most notable historians, draws on novels of the period and childhood recollections of London's East End, as well as memoirs and Party archives, to evoke the world of British Communism in the 1940s. Samuel conjures up the era when the movement was at the height of its political and theoretical power, brilliantly bringing to life an age in which the Communist Party enjoyed huge prestige as a bulwark for the struggles against fascism and colonialism.

"Raphael Samuel gave new meaning to the idea of history ... He brought to the writing and popularisation of history a seemingly inexhaustible energy and creativity." - Independent

"Samuel was born to be an historian. He had the vital quality of living at the same time in the past, the present and the future. Everything interested him, from public health to colonial rebellion and from street lighting to street fighting." - The Times

"You can't know the times without knowing the party, and Samuel makes an excellent guide to it." - The Guardian

"An unparalleled account of the party at the height of its theoretical power and influence." - London Review of Books

"Refreshing reading after some of the shoddy, one-eyed rubbish that has appeared recently under the guise of British Communist Party history." - Morning Star

"Shows Samuel at his very best as both a historian and writer." - Tribune

"The Lost World of British Communism is the most attractive of the books on life and memory, a...memorial to its author's questioning and passionate intellect." - London Review of Books

"The best book on the subject" - New Statesman