Abstract
Paul Bridgen has not simply identified one gap in our existing knowledge to fill with his publication; he has identified two. First, he argues that very little is actually written that focuses exclusively on the foreign policy pursued by the Labour party in the first three decades of their existence, up to 1924. The prevailing view has tended to be that the Labour party pursued a rather pragmatic foreign policy with its immediate attention being on domestic policy rather than events overseas, despite the extreme events in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. Bridgen argues that this simply is not the case and that the socialist ideology of the party had a profound impact on the foreign policy pursued by the party. The party was not ignorant to the international situation, relying on its political ‘masters’ to inform it. Instead, it was perhaps better situated to be aware of the underlying dynamics of certain events because of its position in the international community as a socialist party. Second, Bridgen argues, very convincingly, that the use of the word ‘Labourism’ to describe the particular ideology (or lack of it) within the party during this time period is misleading and something of a catch-all term. Instead, he argues that the different ideological strands of the party need to be separated out to create a cohesive and accurate account of its history, something that Bridgen has done here.
This book is very well written and extremely readable. Bridgen has a nice writing style, and despite the complexity of the issues covered, he explains them clearly and subtly. Inevitably the events preceding and following the First World War feature heavily in this work, although there are other issues that the author could have included, such as the party's response to the 1917 Balfour Declaration concerned with the future of Palestine. That should not, however, suggest that this book is not very good or extensive in range. There are few publications of this type available and Bridgen has shed new light on this period of Labour history. He achieves his aims well and provides a nuanced account of the Labour party before, during and after the First World War, leading up to its first period in government. This book would be a most worthy addition for any Labour party historian or foreign policy expert.