Wed, 08 Nov 2017, 19:00
Marx Memorial Library, 37A Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0DU
Book launch at Marx Memorial Library
Considered by many to be the most innovative British Marxist writer of the twentieth century, Christopher Caudwell was killed in the Spanish Civil War at the age of 29. Although already a published writer of aeronautic texts and crime fiction, he was practically unknown to the public until reviews appeared ofIllusion and Reality, which was published just after his death. A strikingly original study of poetry’s role, it explained in clear language how the organising of emotion in society plays a part in social change and development.
Caudwell had a powerful interest in how things worked – aeronautics, physics, human psychology, language and society. In the anti-fascist struggles of the 1930s he saw that capitalism was a system that could not work properly and distorted the thinking of the age. Self-educated from the age of 15, he wrote with a directness that is quite alien to most cultural theory.
Culture as Politics, edited by David Margolies, introduces Caudwell’s work through his most accessible and relevant writing. Material will be drawn from Illusion and Reality, Studies in a Dying Culture and his essay ‘Heredity and Development’.
Join us for a special launch event at Marx Memorial Library with David Margolies, the editor of Culture as Politics, who will be discussing the life and work of Caudwell.
Doors open at 6.45pm for a 7pm start. Culture as Politics will be available to purchase on the night for the discounted price of £10 (£17.99 RRP) and both cash and card payments are accepted.
