Poets, Politics and the People

Poets, Politics and the People brings together for the first time the most important writings on English literature, culture and politics by one of the leading Marxist historians of our time. The essays collected here consider the work of Shakespeare, Tennyson and Wordsworth; the relation between writers and ‘the people’ in popular protest; and the ideas which have motivated and inspired popular struggles, especially Christianity and socialism. Also include are articles in which Kiernan reflects on the ‘Cambridge traitors’ of the 1930s and the continuing obsession with ‘the enemy within’. Together, they form a ‘history from the bottom up’, reappropriating a radical democratic tradition of thought in Britain. Best known for his studies on imperialism and state formation, Kiernan in this book demonstrates a far-reaching interest in the cultural determinants of literary production, and provides a model for the study of literature in history which will be of interest to scholars of history and literature alike.