George Douglas Howard Cole (25 September 1889 – 14 January 1959) was an English

political theorist A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be Academia, academics or independent scholars. Here the most notable political theorists are categorized b ...

, economist, and historian. As a believer in common ownership of the means of production, he theorised

guild socialism Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

(production organised through worker guilds). He belonged to the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

and was an advocate for the

co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

Early life

Cole was born in Cambridge to George Cole, a jeweller who later became a surveyor; and his wife Jessie Knowles. Cole was educated at St Paul's School and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, where he achieved a double first.

First World War

As a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objec ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Cole's involvement in the campaign against

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to Ancient history, antiquity and it continues in some countries to th ...

introduced him to a co-worker, Margaret Postgate, whom he married in 1918. The couple both worked for the Fabian Society for the next six years before moving to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where Cole started writing for ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...

''. In 1915, Cole became an unpaid research officer at the

Amalgamated Society of Engineers The Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) was a major British trade union, representing factory workers and mechanics. History The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and M ...

. He advised the union on how to respond to wartime legislation including the Munitions Act. This role enabled him to escape

on the grounds that he was conducting work of national importance. Having secured exemption from military service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, during the war years Cole developed a political theory of

.Marc Stears, ‘Cole, George Douglas Howard(1889–1959)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 25 Oct 2017
/nowiki>

Professional life

Cole authored several economic and historical works including biographies of William Cobbett and

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh people, Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditio ...

. In 1925, he became reader in economics at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

. In 1929, he was appointed to the National Economic Advisory Council when it was set up by the

second Labour government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

. In 1944, Cole became the first

Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory Chichele is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Henry Chichele ( 1364–1443), English religious leader **Chichele Professorship *Thomas Chichele Sir Thomas Chicheley (25 March 1614 – 1 February 1699) of Wimpole Hall, Cambridge ...

at Oxford. He was succeeded in the chair by

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

in 1957. Cole was initially a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campai ...

, but he abandoned this position around 1938, stating: "Hitler cured me of pacifism". During the 1930s, Cole sought to construct a British popular front against

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

. He identified the extent of the military threat before many of his colleagues had abandoned their pacifism. Cole lent strong support to the republican cause in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

. He was listed in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's Black Book of prominent subjects to be arrested in the case of a successful

invasion of Britain The term Invasion of England may refer to the following planned or actual invasions of what is now modern England, successful or otherwise. Pre-English Settlement of parts of Britain * The 55 and 54 BC Caesar's invasions of Britain. * The 43 A ...

. In 1941, Cole was appointed sub-warden of

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

. He was central to the establishment of the Nuffield College Social Reconstruction Survey which collected a large amount of demographic, economic and social data. This information was used to advocate for an extensive programme of social reform.

Socialism

Cole became interested in Fabianism while studying at

. He joined the

's executive under the sponsorship of

Sidney Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Ge ...

. Cole became a principal proponent of

guild socialist Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

ideas, a

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (20 ...

alternative to Marxian

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

. These ideas he put forward in ''

The New Age ''The New Age'' was a British weekly magazine (1894–1938), inspired by Fabian socialism, and credited as a major influence on literature and the arts during its heyday from 1907 to 1922, when it was edited by Alfred Richard Orage. It publishe ...

'' before and during the

and also in the pages of ''

The New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', the weekly founded by the

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...

and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. Cole said his interest in socialism was kindled by his reading ''

News from Nowhere ''News from Nowhere'' (1890) is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris. It was first published in serial form in the ''Commonweal'' journal begin ...

'', the

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

novel by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

, writing: Neither a

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

nor a

social democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

, Cole envisioned a

of decentralised association and active,

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy or participative democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives, rather than through elected repr ...

, whose basic units would be sited at the workplace and in the community rather than in any central apparatus of the state. Cole criticized both

state socialism State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition ...

and

syndicalism Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of prod ...

as leaving open the possibility of tyranny, and envisioned a form of socialism where all enterprises would be democratically run by the workers through trade unions with the state remaining to guarantee consumers' rights and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties ma ...

. Cole's ideas were influential in intellectual circles but were generally dismissed by Labour Party leaders such as

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

. In the 1920s,

Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant ...

, a student of Cole, became his driver during the

1926 United Kingdom general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governmen ...

. Cole formed the Society for Socialist Inquiry and Propaganda to advance his views, which combined with former members of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

defecting to the mainstream Labour Party after its disaffiliation to form the Socialist League in 1932. In 1936, Cole began calling for a

popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

movement in Britain in which the Labour Party would ally with other

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

against

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governme ...

and the threat of fascism. Cole was a powerful influence on the life of the young

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, whom he taught, worked with and convinced to join the Labour Party. Cole wrote at least seven books for the

Left Book Club The Left Book Club was a publishing group that exerted a strong left-wing influence in Great Britain from 1936 to 1948. Pioneered by Victor Gollancz, it offered a monthly book choice, for sale to members only, as well as a newsletter that acqui ...

, all of which were published by Victor Gollancz Ltd. They are marked with LBC in the list of his books given below. He and his wife,

Margaret Cole Dame Margaret Isabel Cole (née Postgate; 6 May 1893 – 7 May 1980) was an English socialist politician, writer and poet. She wrote several detective stories jointly with her husband, G. D. H. Cole. She went on to hold important posts in Lo ...

, together wrote 29 popular detective stories,Marc Stears, ‘Cole , Dame Margaret Isabel (1893–1980)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 7 May 2017
/ref> featuring the investigators Superintendent Wilson, Everard Blatchington and Dr. Tancred. Cole and his wife created a partnership but not a marriage. Cole took little interest in sex and he regarded women as a distraction for men. Margaret documented this comprehensively in a biography she wrote of her husband after his death. Although Cole admired the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

for creating a

socialist economy Socialist economics comprises the economic theories, practices and norms of hypothetical and existing socialist economic systems. A socialist economic system is characterized by social ownership and operation of the means of production that may ...

, he rejected its dictatorial government as a model for socialist societies elsewhere. In a 1939 lecture, Cole stated: In his book ''Europe, Russia and the Future'' published in 1941, Cole claimed that however immoral the new Nazi-dominated Europe was in some ways it was better than the "impracticable" system of

sovereign states A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined terr ...

that had preceded it. In economic terms, it could be said that "it would be better to let

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

conquer all

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

short of the Soviet Union, and thereafter exploit it ruthlessly in the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

interest, than to go back to the pre-war order of independent

Nation States A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may ...

with frontiers drawn so as to cut right across the natural units of production and exchange". Cole also stated:

Co-operative studies

Cole was also a theorist of the

and made a number of contributions to the fields of

co-operative studies The purpose of co-operative education and co-operative studies, according to the ICA's Statement on the Co-operative Identity, is that Co-operative societies "provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, a ...

, co-operative economics and the history of the co-operative movement. In particular, his book ''The British Co-operative Movement in a Socialist Society'' examined the economic status of the English CWS (the predecessor of the modern

Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-operative Group has over ...

), evaluated its possibility of achieving a Co-operative Commonwealth without state assistance and hypothesised what the role the co-operative might have in a

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term '' communist state'' is ...

. A second book, titled ''A Century of Co-operation'', examined the history of the movement from the very first co-operatives to the contribution of the

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...

and

, through to the

Rochdale Pioneers The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumers' co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement. Although other co-operatives preceded it, ...

as well as the movement's development (in Great Britain) over the following century. Cole contributed to ''

An Outline of Modern Knowledge ''An Outline of Modern Knowledge'', published by Victor Gollancz in 1931, was an “omnibus” volume intended to survey the full range of human knowledge. It was the first such volume to include entirely new material. Editor William Rose solici ...

'', ed. William Rose (

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...

, 1931) along with other leading authorities of the time, including Roger Fry, C. G. Seligman,

Maurice Dobb Maurice Herbert Dobb (24 July 1900 – 17 August 1976) was an English economist at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is remembered as one of the pre-eminent Marxist economists of the 20th century. Dobb was bo ...

and F. J. C. Hearnshaw.

Personal life

In August 1918, Cole married Margaret Isabel Postgate (1893–1980). Margaret was the daughter of the classical scholar

John Percival Postgate John Percival Postgate, FBA (24 October 1853 – 15 July 1926) was an English classicist and professor of Latin at the University of Liverpool from 1909 to 1920. He was a member of the Postgate family. Born in Birmingham, the son of John ...

. The couple had one son and two daughters in a marriage that lasted forty-one years. However, the marriage does not seem to have been especially happy. Cole expressed little interest in actual romantic attachment and even less in sexual relations. Friends observed that emotional attachments tended to be with men rather than women. Cole was very fond of some of his male students. They included the future leader of the Labour Party

. There is no evidence of any homosexual encounters either before or during his marriage. Cole and his wife jointly wrote a number of books and articles, including twenty-nine detective stories. Cole could not accept the idea of a "determinate human superior". His wife recalled that "he... never gave orders except in a purely routine and non-significant sense (this somehow did not conflict that he employed household servants throughout his life)". His dislike of all forms of hierarchy and hatred of ritual led to

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

at an early age, though he never engaged in anti-religious

polemics Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

. While no

luddite The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver ...

, he greatly admired everything produced by

including his affection for the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

. Though he enjoyed

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

, he derided the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

as "so much noise." Almost allergic to

higher mathematics Further Mathematics is the title given to a number of advanced secondary mathematics courses. The term "Higher and Further Mathematics", and the term "Advanced Level Mathematics", may also refer to any of several advanced mathematics courses at man ...

(he did not understand

Algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary ...

) he distrusted

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

, as it was being used to quantify things that were best left to interpretation. In literature and poetry he enjoyed (after Morris) Defoe,

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, William Cobbett,

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, a ...

and Samuel Butler, but he found

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...

and

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, ...

pretentious. He disliked the "imperialism" of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and hated

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

. He was admired by his students, but Gaitskell said he was much too sensitive, self-critical and sardonic to play the part of the master at all willingly. In the Spring of 1929 the Coles returned to London, living in

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage ...

for six years until buying a "rambling Victorian" house called "Freeland" in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Gre ...

where he lived for most of the last three decades of his life. In early 1957 he and his wife moved to a flat in

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road to ...

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

. He died after going into a

diabetic coma Diabetic coma is a life-threatening but reversible form of coma found in people with diabetes mellitus. Three different types of diabetic coma are identified: #Severe low blood sugar in a diabetic person # Diabetic ketoacidosis (usually type 1 ...

in the early hours of 14 January 1959 in hospital in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

. In lieu of religious rites his brother-in-law,

Raymond Postgate Raymond William Postgate (6 November 1896 – 29 March 1971) was an English socialist, writer, journalist and editor, social historian, mystery novelist, and gourmet who founded the '' Good Food Guide''. He was a member of the Postgate fa ...

, read two passages from the works of

at his funeral in

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

. His estate was offered for

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the st ...

at £46,617 (equivalent to £1,097,364 in 2020).

Bibliography

Non-fiction works

''The World of Labour''
(1913, revised 1920)
''Labour in War Time''
(1915)
''Trade Unionism on the Railways''
(1917) ith_R._Page_Arnot.html" ;"title="R._Page_Arnot.html" ;"title="ith R. Page Arnot">ith R. Page Arnot">R._Page_Arnot.html" ;"title="ith R. Page Arnot">ith R. Page Arnot
''Self-Government in Industry''
(1917, revised 1920)
''The Payment of Wages''
(1918) * ''The Regulation of Wages During and After the War'' (1918)
''An Introduction to Trade Unionism''
(1918)
''Labour in the Commonwealth''
1919)
''Social Theory''
(1920)
''Guild Socialism Restated''
(1920)
''Chaos and Order in Industry''
(1920)
''Guild Socialism - A plan for Economic Democracy''
(1921)
''The Future of Local Government''
(1921)
''Rousseau's Social Contract and Discourses''
edited and translated in Everyman's Library (1923) * ''Robert Owen'' (1923)
''Workshop Organisation''
(1923)
''Trade Unionism and Munitions''
(1923)
''The Life of William Cobbett''
(1925) * ''The Life of Robert Owen'' (1925, second ed. 1930, third ed. 1965)
''Some Essentials of Socialist Propaganda''
(1932)
''The Intelligent Man's Guide through World Chaos''
(1932)
''The Intelligent Man's Review of Europe Today''
(1933) ith Margaret Cole
''Studies in World Economics''
(1934) * ''What Marx Really Meant'' (1934)
''Principles of Economic Planning''
(1935) * ''The Condition of Britain'' (Left Book Club, 1937) ith Margaret Cole* ''The People's Front'' (Left Book Club, 1937) * ''Practical Economics''(Penguin Books, 1937)
''Persons & Periods''
(1938) * ''Socialism in Evolution'' (1938) Pelican
''The War on the Home Front''
(1939) * ''War Aims'' (Left Book Club, 1939) * ''Europe, Russia and the Future'' (Left Book Club, 1941)
''British Working Class Politics 1832-1914''
(1941) * ''Great Britain in the Post-War World'' (Left Book Club, 1942)
''The Fabian Society, Past and Present''
(1942) * ''Fabian Socialism'' (1943) * ''Monetary Systems and Theories'' (1943) * ''The Means to Full Employment'' (Left Book Club, 1943)
''A Century of Cooperation''
(1944)
''Money: Its Present And Future''
(1944) * ''The Common People, 1746–1946'' (1946) ith_ ith_Raymond_Postgate">Raymond_Postgate.html"_;"title="ith_Raymond_Postgate">ith_Raymond_Postgate
''A_Short_History_of_the_British_Working_Class_Movement,_1789–1947''
(1947)_ *_''An_Intelligent_Man's_Guide_to_the_Post-War_World''_(1947) *_''A_History_of_the_Labour_Party_from_1914''_(London:_Routledge_&_K._Paul,_1948) *_''The_Meaning_of_Marxism''_(1948;_a_rewrite_of_''What_Marx_Really_Meant'')
''Consultation_or_Joint_Management?''
(1949)
''Labour's_Second_Term''
(1949) *_''The_Meaning_of_Marxism''_(1950)_ *_''The_British_Co-operative_Movement_in_a_Socialist_Society,''_(London,_Allen_&_Unwin_1951) *_''Introduction_to_Economic_History_1750–1950''_(London:_Macmillan_1952) *_''A_History_of_Socialist_Thought_(Cole_books).html" ;"title="Raymond_Postgate.html" ;"title="Raymond_Postgate.html" ;"title="ith Raymond Postgate">ith Raymond Postgate">Raymond_Postgate.html" ;"title="ith Raymond Postgate">ith Raymond Postgate
''A Short History of the British Working Class Movement, 1789–1947''
(1947) * ''An Intelligent Man's Guide to the Post-War World'' (1947) * ''A History of the Labour Party from 1914'' (London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1948) * ''The Meaning of Marxism'' (1948; a rewrite of ''What Marx Really Meant'')
''Consultation or Joint Management?''
(1949)
''Labour's Second Term''
(1949) * ''The Meaning of Marxism'' (1950) * ''The British Co-operative Movement in a Socialist Society,'' (London, Allen & Unwin 1951) * ''Introduction to Economic History 1750–1950'' (London: Macmillan 1952) * ''A History of Socialist Thought (Cole books)">A History of Socialist Thought'' (five "volumes" in seven "parts", Macmillan, 1953 to 1961; reissued, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) * ''Studies in Class Structure'' (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul 1955)
''Capitalism in the Modern World''
(1957)
''Early Pamphlets and Assessment''
(2011, originally published between 1921 and 1956)

Detective fiction

Novels and short story collections

G D H Cole

*''The Brooklyn Murders'' (1923)

G D H and M Cole

*''The Death of a Millionaire'' (1925) *''The Blatchington Tangle'' (1926); serialised in ''The Daily Herald'' (1926) *''The Murder at Crome House'' (1927) *''The Man from the River'' (1928) *''Superintendent Wilson's Holiday'' (1928) *''Poison in the Garden Suburb'' (1929); serialised in ''The Daily Herald'' (1929). Also known as ''Poison in a Garden Suburb'' *''Burglars in Bucks'' (1930) aka ''The Berkshire Mystery'' *''Corpse in Canonicals'' (1930) aka ''The Corpse in the Constable's Garden'' *''The Great Southern Mystery'' (1931) aka ''The Walking Corpse'' *''Dead Man's Watch'' (1931) *''Death of a Star'' (1932) *''A Lesson in Crime'' (1933) **''A Lesson in Crime''; ''A Question of Coincidence''; ''Mr. Steven's Insurance Policy''; ''Blackmail in the Village''; ''The Cliff Path Ghost''; ''Sixteen Years Run''; ''Wilson Calling'' (Wilson); ''The Brentwardine Mystery''; ''The Mother of the Detective''; ''A Dose of Cyanide''; ''Superintendent Wakley's Mistake''. *''The Affair at Aliquid'' (1933) *''End of an Ancient Mariner'' (1933) *''Death in the Quarry'' (1934) *''Big Business Murder'' (1935) *''Dr Tancred Begins'' (1935) *''Scandal at School'' (1935) aka ''The Sleeping Death'' *''Last Will and Testament'' (1936) *''The Brothers Sackville'' (1936) *''Disgrace to the College'' (1937) *''The Missing Aunt'' (1937) *''Mrs Warrender's Profession'' (1938) *''Off with her Head!'' (1938) *''Double Blackmail'' (1939) *''Greek Tragedy'' (1939) *''Wilson and Some Others'' (1940) **''Death in a Tankard'' (Wilson); ''Murder in Church'' (Wilson); ''The Bone of the Dinosaur'' (Wilson); ''A Tale of Two Suitcases'' (Wilson); ''The Motive'' (Wilson); ''Glass'' (Wilson); ''Murder in Broad Daylight'' (Wilson); ''Ye Olde Englysshe Christmasse or Detection in the Eighteenth Century''; ''The Letters''; ''The Partner''; ''A Present from the Empire''; ''The Strange Adventures of a Chocolate Box''; ''Strychnine Tonic''. *''Murder at the Munition Works'' (1940) *''Counterpoint Murder'' (1940) *''Knife in the Dark'' (1941) *''Toper's End'' (1942) *''Death of a Bride'' (1945) *''Birthday Gifts'' (1946) *''The Toys of Death'' (1948)

Radio plays

G D H and M Cole

* ''Murder in Broad Daylight''. BBC Home Service, 1 June 1934 * ''The Bone of the Dinosaur''. (Detection Club: Series 1, Episode 6). BBC Home Service, 23 and 27 November 1940

Short stories

G D H and Margaret Cole

* ''Death in the Tankard''. (London) Daily News, 15 to 19 January 1934 * ''Too Clever by Half''. (London) Daily News, 20 to 24 April 1936

References

Sources

* Margaret Cole, ''The Life of G. D. H. Cole,'' Macmillan/St. Martin's (1971) * A. W. (Tony) Wright, ''G. D. H. Cole and Socialist Democracy'' New York, Oxford (1979) * L. P. Carpenter, ''G.D.H. Cole: An Intellectual Biography,'' Cambridge (1974)
Chris Wyatt, "A Recipe for a Cookshop of the Future: G. D. H. Cole and the Conundrum of Sovereignty
''Capital and Class'' 90 (2006)

External links

* *
''Guild Socialism'' (1920)

''Some Essentials of Socialist Propaganda'' (1932)

''The War on the Home Front'' (1939)

''Capitalism in the Modern World'' (1957)

''New Statesman'' article on G.D.H. Cole (2012)

by Ray Challinor.
Mike Grost on Cole's detective novels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, G. D. H. 1889 births 1959 deaths 20th-century British economists 20th-century English historians 20th-century British short story writers People from Cambridge Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British conscientious objectors British cooperative organizers English male journalists English mystery writers English socialists English anti-fascists Libertarian socialists Fellows of University College, Oxford People educated at St Paul's School, London Members of the Detection Club English political philosophers Chichele Professors of Social and Political Theory Chairs of the Fabian Society Presidents of the Fabian Society European democratic socialists Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Labour Party (UK) politicians Postgate family Deaths from diabetes