Liars A to E*

An A-Z of Marxism (A through E)

File under 'Classic Reprints', 'An ABC of Marxism' was written in the 1980s, and was originally intended as an introduction to socialist ideas in a simple and concise form.

I believe that the author of the text was 'Lew' - he writes under a pseudonym for the Socialist Standard, so I'll respect his privacy - and was proposed as a SPGB pamphlet, but the *cough* New Pamphlets Committee never got round to publishing it. Shame that, 'cos I think it's a canny idea.

Parts of the text were later reproduced in the excellent Socialist View, the journal of the World Socialist Party of Ireland in the mid to late eighties.

I've only put up A to E at this point 'cos the football's coming on the telly and it'll take ages to reproduce the full text. Further instalments to follow. (Before you ask, there are no entries for Chomsky, iPods or the Pussycat Dolls. Fingers crossed that they will be covered in any future updating of the text.)

In the meantime, I think it's best to reproduce below the foreward to the text so that will give you some flavour of the original project:

"This dictionary is intended as a reference-companion for the socialist. It is aimed particularly at the newcomer to the socialist movement who may be unfamiliar with socialist terminology.

Our approach has been to combine brevity with clarity, as far as possible, with cross-referencing and a guide to further reading at the end of most entries.We have been selective.

We have concentrated on those words and ideas that are relevant to the case for socialism. In addition, there are many biographical entries of individuals and organisations of interest to the socialist movement. The inclusion of any of these should not necessarily be understood as an endorsement of their ideas and practices. Likewise, many entries have suggestions for further reading but the views expressed in these books are not necessarily the same as those of the socialist movement.

It will be obvious that there are some errors, omissions and unworthy inclusions. We make no claim to comprehensive, final and definitive truth. This dictionary can and should be better. We therefore invite suggestions and constructive criticisms for use in future editions of this dictionary."

*Dexys Midnight Runners . . . beat that one Reidski