This volume is the second of a four-volume collection that presents the diaries of English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer Beatrice Webb (1858-1943). In her diary Beatrice expressed her desire to write fully and creatively about her life and she kept her diary from 1873 until her death in 1943. In the diary Beatrice records the activities of her daily life, interactions with friends and family, and her most private thoughts and fears. Webb is at the peak of her powers in this second volume of her diary. She is content with "the ideal life" and her partnership with Sidney, and devotes herself to their grand foundation of the London School of Economics, the writing of incisive studies of trade unionism and local government, and plans for the creation of modem schools and universities. All of these accomplishments are in sharp relief to the political stresses caused by the Boer War and the collapse of Gladstonian Liberalism. Only the rise of the Labour movement seemed in stride with the Webbs' leaps of fortune. Even more than before, Webb's circle glitters with the makers of Edwardian society. Mistress of the salon, she dines with Asquith, talks politics with Winston Churchill, debates philosophy with Bertrand Russell, visits Balfour and Lloyd George, becomes an intimate friend of Bernard Shaw, and quarrels with H.G. Wells.

This volume reveals how a fledgling Fabian journal came to play a key role in the growth of the modern Labour Party. The author compares its first journalists with later generations of editors and writers and rediscovers the early, and lasting, importance of the British Left's best-known magazine.

A diary recording the authors' extended tour of the Far East. It focuses on their impressions as the ancient civilizations of Japan, China and India, each in their separate ways, came to terms with the modern world.

The Labour Party became a major political force during the 1920s. It unexpectedly entered office as a minority government in 1924; five years later as the largest party in the Commons it took office again. For many the party's enhanced status was associated closely with its leader, Ramsay MacDonald. The years of optimism were destroyed by rising unemployment; in August 1931, the second Labour Government faced pressures for public expenditure cuts in the midst of a financial crisis. The Government collapsed, and MacDonald led a new administration composed of erstwhile opponents and a few old colleagues. Labour went into opposition; an early election reduced it to a parliamentary rump. This study offers a uniquely detailed analysis of Labour in the 1920s based on a wide variety of unpublished sources. The emphasis is on the variety of identities available within the party, and demonstrates how disputes over identity made a crucial contribution to the 1931 crisis. Thorough scholarship and distinctive interpretation combine to provide an important examination of a major episode in twentieth-century history.

This volume explores some of the major transitions, opportunities and false dawns of modern British political history. It engages with the scholarly legacy of Professor Duncan Tanner (1958–2010) whose work was focused on the political process and on politics in government. Chronologically its span runs from the first general election to be conducted under the terms of the Third Reform Act through to the 1997 referenda in favour of devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales. This was the period in which British politicians most obviously addressed a mass, British-wide electorate, seeking national approval for policies and programmes to be enacted on a UK-wide basis. Aimed at scholars and students of modern British history this volume will also interest the general reader who wishes to get to grips with some of the latest thinking about British politics.

When George Bernard Shaw died in 1950, the world lost one of its most well-known authors, a revolutionary who was as renowned for his personality as he was for his humour, humanity, and rebellious thinking. He remains a compelling figure who deserves attention not only for how influential he was in his time, but for how relevant he is to ours. This collection sets Shaw's life and achievements in context, with forty-two scholarly essays devoted to subjects that interested him and defined his work. Contributors explore a wide range of themes, moving from factors that were formative in Shaw's life, to the artistic work that made him most famous and the institutions with which he worked, to the political and social issues that consumed much of his attention, and, finally, to his influence and reception. Presenting fresh material and arguments, this collection will point to new directions of research for future scholars.

Die Krise der Moderne und der auf sie antwortende Modernismus markieren den Übergang vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert. Im Ersten Weltkrieg und den sich an ihn anschließenden Revolutionen manifestierten sie sich auf dramatische Weise. Dieses Buch geht den Beziehungen zwischen den neuen sozialen und politischen Entwürfen dieser Zeit - Planungsdenken, Neuer Mensch, totaler Staat - und den künstlerisch-intellektuellen Avantgarden nach, vom italienischen Futurismus über das Bauhaus bis hin zu deren sowjetischen Pendants. Im Zentrum steht dabei die Maschine, die zum Schlüsselbegriff des Modernismus wurde.