''Left Review'' was a journal set up by the British section of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

-sponsored International Union of Revolutionary Writers (previously known as the International Bureau for Revolutionary Literature; also known as the Writers' International), established in 1934 and continued until 1938.Craig Werner, "Left Review and Left Literary Theory" in ''British literary magazines''. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1983-1986. Volume Four. James Smith, ''British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960''. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2012 (pp. 2–3). ''Left Review's'' editorial board was headed by Montagu Slater, Edgell Rickword,

Amabel Williams-Ellis Amabel Williams-Ellis (née Mary Annabel Nassau Strachey; 10 May 1894 – 27 August 1984) was an English writer, critic, and an early member of the Bloomsbury Group. As well as publishing her own writings, Williams-Ellis was a prolific editor, t ...

Tom Wintringham Thomas Henry Wintringham (15 May 1898 – 16 August 1949) was a British soldier, military historian, journalist, poet, Marxist, politician and author. He was a supporter of the Home Guard during the Second World War and was one of the founders ...

and Randall Swingler. From 1936 to 1937 Rickword was the sole editor: he was succeeded by Swingler, who remained at the position until the magazine ended. The first issue published a position statement by the Writers' International, which declared Britain's economy and culture were in a state of collapse, expressed opposition to

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

and

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

and support for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. ''Left Review'' then invited writers to respond. The issues that followed published responses, such as the one by Lewis Grassic Gibbon in the February 1935 issue, and opinions on the nature of literature. The magazine carried articles on politics and culture, along with some short fiction and poetry. ''Left Review'' carried articles by a number of noted left-wing writers, including

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby (23 June 1898 – 29 September 1935) was an English novelist and journalist, now best known for her novel '' South Riding'', which was posthumously published in 1936. Biography Holtby was born to a prosperous farming family in ...

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

Storm Jameson Margaret Ethel Storm Jameson (8 January 1891 – 30 September 1986) was an English journalist and author, known for her novels and reviews and for her work as President of English PEN between 1938 and 1944. Life and career Jameson was born in ...

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read wa ...

, James Hanley, Arthur Calder-Marshall, and

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as "the greatest artist-craftsma ...

. In May 1935 ''Left Review'' published an editorial strongly criticising the

Silver Jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...

celebrations of King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

, arguing such expensive celebrations were inappropriate at a time of high poverty and unemployment. The editorial was signed by several prominent writers and artists, including

A. L. Lloyd Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982A. L. Lloyd – Music Biography, Credits and Discography AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English ...

Pearl Binder Pearl Binder, Baroness Elwyn-Jones (pronounced ; 28 June 1904 – 25 January 1990) was a British writer, illustrator, stained-glass artist, lithographer, sculptor and a champion of the Pearly Kings and Queens. Binder was a well-known charact ...

and

Ralph Fox Ralph Hartzler Fox (March 24, 1913 – December 23, 1973) was an American mathematician. As a professor at Princeton University, he taught and advised many of the contributors to the ''Golden Age of differential topology'', and he played ...

. The same year

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

began to contribute to the magazine.

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

recorded the names of all contributors to the magazine and kept detailed files on several of ''Left Review's'' contributors as possible "security risks", including C. Day-Lewis, Wintringham and Rex Warner.Smith, 2012 (pp. 35–6). In 1937 ''Left Review'' was subject to criticism after

Fredric Warburg Fredric John Warburg (27 November 1898 – 25 May 1981) was a British publisher, who in 1935 founded the company Secker & Warburg. He is best known for his association with the author George Orwell. During a career spanning a large part of the ...

revealed in a letter to the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' that ''Left Review'' had refused to carry an advertisement for

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

's book ''The Case of Leon Trotsky'', which published the report of the Dewey Commission which had defended Trotsky from attacks made on him during

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

show trials A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a warning to ...

.Michael Woodhouse, Brian Pearce (editors), ''Essays on the history of Communism in Britain''. New Park Publications, 1975 , (p. 235). In response, Randall Swingler defended the decision not to carry the advertisement, stating "''there is a line at which criticism ends and destructive attacks begin, and we regret that this line separates us both from Dr. Goebbels and from Leon Trotsky.''".

References

{{Authority control 1934 establishments in the United Kingdom 1938 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Communist magazines Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1934 Magazines disestablished in 1938