Publisher's Synopsis
The Collected Poems of Tom Wintringham
Edited by Hugh Purcell
Drawing on the newly opened Tom Wintringham archive, this book contains nearly all Tom Wintringham's poems, many of which are published here for the first time. From the Great War and the October Revolution, via the General Strike to Spain and war against Hitler, Wintringham's poems are a unique record of those revolutionary years, a compelling cocktail of ideas and imagination, romance, realism and action.
Tom Wintringham (1898-1949) was a man of action, a revolutionary, a soldier and a poet. During the First World War he served in the Royal Flying Corps; in the Spanish Civil War he commanded the British Battalion of the International Brigade; in the Second World War he was the driving force and inspiration behind the establishment of the Home Guard. He was a founder member of the Communist Party, and one of the twelve Communist leaders gaoled for 'sedition' in 1925. He edited the Worker's Weekly, helped launch the Daily Worker and was one of the first editors of Left Review. Expelled in 1938 from the Communist Party, Wintringham co-founded the Commonwealth Party and almost won a famous war-time by-election. His poetry was published in many magazines, and his numerous books included The Coming World War, Mutiny, English Captain, The Politics of Victory, People's War and the best-selling Your M.P.
"This book should be in all libraries." - The South
"No one carried a greater charisma in those memorable days than Tom Wintringham. To my generation, his name re-creates a vision of beckoning symbols along the road to a New Jerusalem." - Geoffrey Goodman, Tribune
"Wintringham spoke for his generation; he was a prophet who should have honour in his land." - Norman MacKenzie, Guardian
Hugh Purcell worked for many years as a producer for BBC radio and television. Credits include The Road to War and the BAFTA-winning American Civil War. His previous books include Fascism, The Spanish Civil War, Revolutionary War and a biography of Tom Wintringham, The Last English Revolutionary (2004). He is a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a FRSA.
