The Left Review

The Left Review was a monthly literary and political periodical published in London during the 1930s that aligned with anti-fascist and radical leftist currents. It served as a forum for writers, poets, critics, and activists responding to events such as the Spanish Civil War, the rise of Nazi Party Germany, and debates within the Communist International. Through essays, fiction, and polemics the magazine connected cultural production with campaigns associated with the International Brigades, the British Labour Party, and sections of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Overview

The journal combined literary criticism, reportage, and polemical essays by figures associated with movements around George Orwell, E. M. Forster, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, and contemporaries from the Bloomsbury Group and the Auden Group. It addressed crises illustrated by the Rhineland remilitarization, the Abyssinian Crisis, and debates about the Popular Front strategy. Contributors engaged with theater in the tradition of Bertolt Brecht, film in the mould of Sergei Eisenstein, and poetry influenced by T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.

History and founding

The periodical emerged from networks linking London literary salons, radical newspapers such as the Daily Worker, and university circles at King’s College London and University of Cambridge. Its establishment in 1934 followed agitation after events like the Jarrow March and the General Strike, when left-leaning intellectuals sought new platforms. Founding editors drew on precedents including Marxism Today and earlier journals such as New Statesman. The editorial collective negotiated relations with organizations like the Independent Labour Party and factions within the Communist Party of Great Britain, while responding to international developments such as the Munich Agreement.

Editorial stance and contributors

The magazine adopted a position critical of fascist forces represented by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and sympathetic to anti-fascist coalitions linked to the Comintern. Contributors included novelists, critics, and activists such as John Middleton Murry, C. Day-Lewis, D. H. Lawrence (in contested association), and émigré intellectuals from continental networks like Bertolt Brecht and Arthur Koestler. It published work by emerging figures who later associated with institutions like the British Museum, the National Gallery, and academic posts at University College London. Editors debated policy in relation to events like the Spanish Republic’s struggle and campaigns such as the Aldermaston Marches precursor movements.

Content and themes

Articles combined reportage on conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War and cultural analysis engaging with modernist experiments by figures like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Paul Éluard, and Louis Aragon. Literary reviews covered novels by George Orwell, plays by Noël Coward, and criticism linked to movements such as Surrealism and Socialist Realism. The magazine ran short fiction, poetry, and manifestos addressing debates between advocates of the Popular Front style alliances and adherents of revolutionary tactics championed by sections of the Communist International. It featured polemics on pacifism influenced by activists associated with the Peace Pledge Union and discussions of press freedom in the context of libel suits involving figures from the BBC and the Daily Mail.

Reception and influence

Reception ranged from praise in periodicals like New Statesman and critical attention from commentators affiliated with The Times and the Manchester Guardian to denunciation from conservative outlets such as the Daily Telegraph. The magazine influenced literary debates that shaped later anthologies and curricula at institutions including Oxford University and Cambridge University. Its contributors participated in organizing benefit readings for the International Brigades and dialogues with film practitioners at venues such as the British Film Institute. Although the publication ceased in the late 1930s amid financial strain and political realignments prompted by events like the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, its networks fed into postwar journals and movements tied to the Labour Party and cultural initiatives at the Arts Council of Great Britain.

Category:Defunct political magazines of the United Kingdom Category:1930s publications