Class War Conservatism and Other Essays

When, in 2013, the Daily Mail labeled Ralph Miliband “The Man Who Hated Britain,” a diverse host rallied to his defense. Those who had worked with him – from both left and right – praised his work and character. He was lauded as “one of the best-known academic Marxists of his generation” and a leading figure of the New Left.

Class War Conservatism collects together his most significant political essays and shows the scope and brilliance of his thinking. Ranging from the critical anatomy of capitalism to a clear-eyed analysis of the future of socialism in Britain, this selection shows Miliband as an independent and prescient thinker of great insight. Throughout, his writing is a passionate and forcefully argued demand for social justice and a better future.

Born in Belgium in 1924, Ralph Miliband moved to Britain in 1940. Serving in the Royal Navy during the war, he then studied at the LSE and became a leading member of the New Left. He set up the Socialist Register in 1964 while he continued to teach in London, Leeds and the US. He is the author of defining works such as Capitalist Democracy in Britain and Socialism for a Sceptical Age. He died in 1994.