Book Description

A guide to the unsung heritage of Britain; contributions by high profile Lefties such as PAUL ROUTLEDGE; an introduction by MICHAEL FOOT; 12 maps and 50 black and white illustrations by MARTIN ROWSON. The Lefties' Guide aims to celebrate Leftie history through location. Some areas are richer than others, but no corner of Britain lacks a site that has a reminder of the development of British liberties, rights and a better life. Organised by region, with each contributor providing an overview of that area's particular significance for the history of the Left, the Guide proposes to list 500 sites which are as much part of the British heritage as those cathedrals, stately homes and battlefields that have usually been part only of the history of an elite, and often a conservative elite. Reminders come in unexpected corners. Beatrice and Sidney Webb and Ernest Bevin are buried in Westminster Cathedral. But John Smith is buried in the kirkyard of Iona Cathedral. Eton College produced George Orwell, Labour 1945 Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton and Tam Dalyell. The Lefties' Guide raises questions. disproportionate number of Lefties, others hardly any.