lbc lbc history original lbc titles partners contact us press enquiries welcome to the left book club the left book club is changing we re looking for new voices and young writers engaged in activism to publish books with us and our publisher pluto press and to contribute articles and essays to a revamped version of this website which we plan to transform into a dynamic new place for progressive ideas online . the new site will be built around lbc books and great radical books of the past and will feature interviews debates articles videos podcasts and other live events an annual essay prize for unpublished writers plus exclusive social and other features for members including a network of reading groups . we re hoping to raise 25k to fund our ambitions by running a crowdfunder for one month from october 19th at www.crowdfunder.co.uk leftbookclub . noam chomsky is one of our supporters in our crowdfunder video to be launched on october 19th chomsky says the left book club and its digital ambitions are vital for laying the groundwork for effective practice i d like to urge all of you to join in these very promising and critically important efforts . the crowdfunder will feature a range of eclectic rewards ranging from badges and bags to protest banners a day out at an anglo saxon archeological dig artwork from richard hamilton jeremy deller peter kennard ralph steadman and others and book proposal feedback from noam chomsky s uk editor . see left book club press release . the eu referendum whichever way you voted in the eu referendum the result shows how vital it is to have good non sectarian political education . in short the left book club has never been so important . we need enlightened discussion in groups between friends even with ourselves to help unite what has been revealed as a divided country . since the left book club launched in november 2015 we have published and distributed four fine titles ; syriza inside the labyrinth by kevin ovenden being red a politics for the future by ken livingstone rent trap how we fell into it and how we get out of it by rosie walker and samir jeraz and cut out living without welfare by jeremy seabrook . the next books ; here we stand women changing the world edited by helena earnshaw and angharad penrhyn jones the russian revolution by neil faulkner and sound system the political power of music by dave randall are all in the publishing pipeline with pluto books . discussion groups are being set up around the country and our launches are lively political events . please support the lbc by joining if you haven t already done so and encourage others to join . the link between the original left book club and this one is clear . the first lbc of the 1930s played a huge part in setting up the welfare state . this lbc aims to halt the destruction of this one and help create a new and just society . hank roberts chair lbc jan woolf convener lbc the left book club a new left book club launched in september 2015 with a list of high quality political books aimed at a wide readership . members will receive hot off the press titles on the housing crisis climate change austerity new forms of protest radical history and many other topical issues . today s left book club has been launched by a collective of ac tivists writers and trade unionists who have been building the lbc in partnership with the radical publisher pluto press . politically non aligned and not for profit we believe as did the organisers of the first left book club in the 1930s that books and the discussion of ideas are vital for the development of progressive politics in britain our first publication was syriza inside the labyrinth in which kevin ovenden provides us with a sharp analysis of the political events leading to syriza storming to power in 2015 and also follows the course of their first hundred days in office . ovenden emphasises that this historical moment is full of hope syriza aims to provide a new future for workers across europe an exit from the neoliberal labyrinth . it was followed by ken livingstone s being red a politics for the future in which the ex mayor of london looks at the future of the labour party at a time when it has generated new mass support following the election of jeremy corbyn to party leader . in this insider s account of the party livingstone suggests possible lessons for those who would seek to follow or improve on his achievements today . in the rent trap how we fell into it and how we get out of it authors samir jeraj and rosie walker offer the first critical account of what is really going on in the private rented sector and expose the powers which are conspiring to oppose regulation . a quarter of british mps are landlords rent strike is almost impossible and snap evictions are growing but in the light of these hurdles the rent trap will show how people are starting to fight back . the fourth title under the relaunched lbc is jeremy seabrook s cut out living without welfare which looks at how successive governments have conducted a process of systematic eradication of britain s welfare system one of the greatest achievements of the post war period . while the media demonises those who receive aid from the state the government is hurriedly dismantling the social safety net consigning millions to uncertainty and increasing inequality in britain . published in mid 2016 cut out exposes the reality of the nation today . our aim is for members who pay 40 60 for an annual subscription to discuss the books in reading groups as did members of the first lbc or through online forums . to subscribe and receive your four books a year follow this link this is what people say about the return of the left book club jeremy corbyn labour leader and mp for islington north the relaunch of the left book club is a terrific and timely idea and will give intellectual ballast to the wave of political change sweeping britain and beyond encouraging informed and compassionate debate . i have a large collection of left book club publications collected by my late parents and me . the works will open minds and inspire . i support the new lbc wholeheartedly . heathcote williams playwright the left book club is owed a huge debt as an intellectual mojo . it seems the most natural thing in the world to extend its lifespan . kate smurthwaite comedian and activist in a world of wall to wall airbrushed adverts repetitive inane corporate messages and media distortion and sensationalisation it s really important to be fighting back on the most basic battleground the mental environment . marina warner writer an important strong timely idea natalie bennett green party lader we live in an age of crises economic social ecological and political . it s vital that we build a movement that can offer positive alternatives to a world of war climate change and gross inequality . i support the left book club . ken livingstone i m delighted to see the return of the left book club . there s no doubt it played a major part in the foundation of the welfare state and even helped us win world war two . we need an lbc now just as badly to bring people together to read and talk about progressive politics at a time when our society is being fragmented by austerity . recent posts in the age of corbyn is the time right for another road to wigan pier london had a sub prime housing problem . now it has a super prime crisis unelectable only to the super rich elite a new economics left book club back to the future twitter tweets by leftbookclub facebook click here to join our facebook group copyright 2016 generatepress wordpress