Author James Crossley introduces his biography of Communist intellectual A.L. Morton, who pioneered studies of English radical history A. L. Morton and the Radical Tradition is the first book-length biography of the Communist intellectual A. L. Morton (1903–1987) who pioneered studies of English radical history and helped frame the way we think about transforming England. Morton is now best known for A People's History of England (1938) and The English Utopia (1952), but his output was vast, and he was once widely read in socialist circles and beyond. He published on the English Revolution, Chartism, the emergence of the British labour movement, the legacy of utopianism in working-class movements, Arthurian legends, Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, Robert Owen, William Morris, millenarianism, imperialism, and much more. Through extensive archival work (including recently released secret service files) and a close reading of Morton's publications, this book shows how Morton was a key influence on the famed generation of British Marxist historians associated with the postwar Communist Party Historians' Group, often anticipating their more celebrated findings. This book analyses the interrelated significance of Morton’s political work and his role within the Communist Party of Great Britain at crucial points in its history. The book further functions, then, as a story of English socialism and Communism during the Cold War.
Professor James Crossley is the Academic Director of the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (CenSAMM). James is also Professor of Bible, Society and Politics at MF Oslo and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King's College London. He was previously Professor of Bible and Society at St Mary’s University (2015–2022) and Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, and then Professor of Religion, Culture, and Politics at the University of Sheffield (2005–2015). Before that, James had temporary teaching positions at the University of Exeter (2004) and the University of Nottingham (1999–2004). His undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Theology with English Studies, Religious Studies, and New Testament are all from the University of Nottingham (1995–2002).
