1956: John Saville, EP Thompson and The Reasoner

1956 was a year of political drama. It saw the Anglo-French seizure of the Suez Canal, Nikita Khruschev’s Secret Speech, denouncing Stalin, unrest across Eastern Europe and the Russian invasion of Hungary. This book discusses the convulsions which enveloped the Communist Party of Great Britain in the aftermath of Khruschev’s revelations. It reprints the text of The Reasoner for the first time in 60 years. It tells the story of this journal and its editors: John Saville and E.P. Thompson. The Reasoner proved critical in organising opposition to Stalinism in the Communist Party. The editors have provided detailed notes on each issue and a selection of documents from both the party leadership and its opponents. Original essays explore how the events of 1956 came about, their impact on British Communism and the dissident political thinking. Meticulously evidenced, thought-provoking and iconoclastic, this text will be essential reading for all those seeking to understand British Communism and the politics of Marxism in the second half of the twentieth century. Contents: 1. Foreword; 2. John McIlroy, Introduction; 3. Documents; Harry Pollitt, The Twentieth Congress of the CPSU and the Role of Stalin; The Lessons of the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU; Rajani Palme Dutt, The Great Debate; John Saville, Problems of the Communist Party; Rajani Palme Dutt, New Times, New Measures; EP Thompson, Winter Wheat in Omsk; George Matthews, A Caricature of Our Party; Khrushchev’s Report; Derek Kartun, Ideas and Methods of Work; 4. The Reasoner, no 1; Editorial Comments; Why We Are Publishing; Taking Stock; Ken Alexander, Democratic Centralism; EP Thompson, Reply To George Matthews; Correspondence; AL, What Is Socialism?; John McLeish, An Open Letter From a ‘Premature Anti-Stalinist’; K Hughes, Where Do We Stand Now?; R Cocker, Needed: A Party of a New Type; Documents; Letter from Steve Nelson, Daily Worker (New York); Statement by the Editorial Board, Jewish Life; Andrzej Braun, A Polish Self-Examination, Nova Kultura; 5. The Reasoner, no 2; Editorial; The Case For Socialism; Ronald L Meek, What Should We Do About The Reasoner?; Doris Lessing, A Letter To the Editors; Hyman Levy, The Place of Unorthodoxy in Marxism; Bertolt Brecht, To Posterity; John Saville, World Socialism Restated: A Comment; Readers’ Round-Up; Correspondence; J Lyons, Democratic Centralism; P Jordan, Discussion and Democracy; Lawrence Daly, ‘The Long Road Back’; Rodney Hilton, Labour–Communist Relations; Jim Johnson, Beware of Attempts to Stifle the Discussion; E Sleight, Marxism: Science and Dogma; P Shelley, A Lesson from History; Documents; Helena Eilstein, Problems of Free Discussion in Poland; An American Assessment of the Stalin Era; 6. Documents; Communist Party Executive Committee Statement on The Reasoner; The Reasoner: Statement by the Communist Party Executive Committee; Statement by the Executive Committee of the Communist Party on The Reasoner; 7. The Reasoner, no 3; Editorial; EP Thompson, Through the Smoke of Budapest; Sheila Lynd, Leslie Sewell, Ursula Cox, Three Letters on The Reasoner; Derek Kartun, Seeing the Trees for the Wood; Democratic Centralism; GDH Cole, Reflections; An American View, Democracy and Dissent; PH, On Democratic Centralism; ‘De-Stalinisation’; Ronald L Meek, Notes From a Polish Diary; K Simonov, On Fadeyev; Ursula Wassermann, Hungary and Socialist Democracy; John Saville, An Open Letter to R Page Arnot; Bob Davies, Some Notes on the 1937-38 Purges; Correspondence, J Young, E Martin, Stella Jull, MD, Doris Lessing, and Others; EP Thompson and John Saville, Statement by the Editors; 8. Ronald Meek, The Marxist-Leninist’s Song; 9. John McIlroy, John Saville and Stalinism: An Incomplete Emancipation?; 10. Paul Flewers, EP Thompson and the Soviet Experience; 11. Chronology; 12. Index. • Illustrations: front pages of the three issues of The Reasoner and three cartoons