Wide-ranging, lucid and very readable, the book is a fresh account of the political left over two centuries.Chris Wrigley, author of British Trade Unions since 1933
A brilliant, erudite and engaged history of the intersection of Britains working classes and its radical traditions in all their depth and many-sidedness. Whether or not you agree with all of Andrewss conclusions, Radicals should be required reading for everyone interested in the past, present and the future of the British left.John Merrick, editor of Raphael Samuels Workshop of the World
Geoff Andrews' succinct retelling of the story of the British Left focuses on radical ideas and cultures rather than party politics. He shows how the working class, its emerging ethos and its struggle for self-education, helped to shape British society across more than a century.Tom Buchanan, University of Oxford
Geoff Andrews tells two centuries of working-class history in an informed, lucid style that is always engaging and often poignant. Radicals reminds us that the British working-classes were never dogmatic about socialist doctrine. British socialism developed out of working-class cultures that valued loyalty, mutualism, co-operation, fraternity, self-reliance, and self-improvement.Richard Johnson, Queen Mary University of London
Radicals is a marvellous and timely affirmation of the ideas and intellects which made, maintained, and sustained the British labour movement. Andrews makes a powerful, essential case for why historians and today's progressive voicesindeed all of usshould pay far greater attention to adult educators, autodidacts, creatives, feminists, and working people. This is an outstanding contribution to the history of our times.Daryl Leeworthy, author of Labour Country