Thirteen original chapters by major scholars examine different aspects of the ICU's record in the 1920s and 1930s, assessing its achievements and its failures in relation to the post-apartheid present. In its syndicalist One Big Union approach to protecting workers' rights; its emphasis on economic freedoms; its internationalism; and its robust protection of women and migrant workers, the ICU challenged fundamentally the axioms, tactics, and programmes of rival organisations like the African National Congress. More than simply an exercise in excavating a crucial chapter in struggle history,...

This collection introduces the reader to the life and times of Stuart Hood (1915-2011). Highlighting Hood's year spent fighting with the Italian Resistance during the Second World War, the essays consider how his experiences as a partisan influenced his peacetime trajectory. Written by distinguished scholars from several disciplines, each chapter examines different aspects of Hood's life and work, including his Scottish boyhood and university education in Edinburgh; his distinguished career as a broadcaster presiding over an era of unprecedented creativity at BBC television; his role in the...