A new single volume history of the Communist Party of Great Britain examining the party from its foundations in 1920 to its demise in the early 1990s. Drawing on original research and a reading of specialist texts, the authors analyze the rise and fall of the party and evaluate its role on the left of British politics. Whilst sympathetic to the ideals and commitment of many British communist activists, the book is sharply critical of much of the actual practice of the party.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
High Hopes: 1920-28
The Zig-Zag Left: 1928-39
The Party at War: Its Finest Hour?
Past its Peak: 1945-56
The Monolith Cracks: 1956-68
Not Fade Away: From 1968 to Dissolution
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

JAMES EADEN has taught history and politics in further and higher education for the last fifteen years and has a long history of activist campaigning in the socialist and trade union movement.

DAVE RENTON is a member of the board of Revolutionary History. His most recent books include Fascism, Anti-Fascism and the 1940s (Macmillan, 2000); This Rough Game: Fascism and Anti-Fascism (Stroud, 2001); and Marx on Globalisation (Lawrence and Wishart, 2001). He is currently employed as an education officer for the Trade Union Congress in London.