''Merrie England'' is an influential collection of

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

s on

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Robert Blatchford Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford (17 March 1851 – 17 December 1943) was an English socialist campaigner, journalist, and author in the United Kingdom. He was also noted as a prominent atheist, nationalist and opponent of eugenics. In the early ...

under the pseudonym "Nunquam", published in 1893. The first issue by Nunquam was priced at one shilling. It sold over two million copies worldwide. It was said that for every one convert to socialism made by Karl Marx's ''

Das Kapital ''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in materialist phi ...

'' there were a hundred converts made by “Merrie England” – though even this may be an underestimate. The book received rebuttals including: *R. Nemo, ''Labour and Luxury: A Reply to 'Merrie England London: Walter Scott, 1895 * Robert Roberts, ''England's Ruin, Or John Smith's Answer to Mr. Blatchford's Plea for Socialism'' 1895Jason D Martinek ''Socialism and Print Culture in America, 1897–1920'' 1317320778 2015 p156 R. Nemo, Labour and Luxury: A Reply to 'Merrie England' (London: Walter Scott, 1895), pp. 90–1. 71. Ibid., p. 183. 72. Ibid., p. 190. 73. R. Roberts, England's Ruin, Or John Smith's Answer to Mr. Blatchford's Plea for Socialism, vol. 2 (London: ...

References

External links

* 1893 non-fiction books 1893 in England Books about England Political history of England Literature of England Essay collections Socialist publications {{England-hist-stub