Anti-Fascism in Britain

Anti-fascism has long been one of the most active and dynamic areas of radical protest and direct action. Yet it is an area of struggle and popular resistance that remains largely unexplored by historians, sociologists and political scientists. Fully revised and updated from its earlier edition, this book continues to provide the definitive account of anti-fascism in Britain from its roots in the 1930s opposition to Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists to the street demonstrations and social media campaigns of the 21st century. The author draws on an impressive range of sources from official government, police and Security Service records and the writings and recollections of activists themselves to the publications and propaganda of anti-fascist groups and their opponents, It traces the ideological, tactical and organisational evolution of anti-fascist groups and explores their often complicated relationships with the mainstream and radical left as well as assessing their effectiveness in combating the extreme right.

Professor Nigel Copsey is Director of the Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies (CFAPS) at University of Teesside, UK. He is the author ofAnti-Fascism in Britain (2000), Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and theQuest for Legitimacy (2004; rev edn, 2008), co-editor of British Fascism, the Labour Movement and the State (2005), co-editor ofVarieties of Anti-Fascism (2009), co-editor of BNP Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge, 2010). editor of the journalFascism and co-editor of The Routledge Studies in Fascism & the Far-Right Series.