Lexington Books
Pages: 192
Trim: 7 x 9
978-0-7391-0863-5 • Hardback • November 2004 • $131.00 • (£101.00)
978-0-7391-0864-2 • Paperback • November 2004 • $54.99 • (£42.00)
Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General,
Biography & Autobiography / Philosophers,
Biography & Autobiography / Political,
Biography & Autobiography / Women,
History / General,
History / Europe / General,
History / Europe / France,
History / Europe / Germany,
History / Europe / Great Britain / General,
History / Europe / Western,
History / Modern / General,
History / Modern / 19th Century,
History / Modern / 20th Century,
History / Revolutionary,
History / World,
Philosophy / General,
Philosophy / Movements / General,
Philosophy / Movements / Humanism,
Philosophy / Political,
Philosophy / Reference,
Social Science / General,
Social Science / Feminism & Feminist Theory,
Social Science / Gender Studies,
Social Science / Research,
Social Science / Women's Studies
David Black is an independent scholar and author of Acid: A New Secret History of LSD. Hear the author discuss his work on BBC Radio here.
Chapter 1 Interrogating History
Chapter 2 The Making of Red Republicanism
Chapter 3 Hegel's England
Chapter 4 Fraternal Democrats
Chapter 5 The Mystery of a Nom de Plume
Chapter 6 Humbug Manufactures and Rosewater Sentimentalists
Chapter 7 Christianity and Socialism
Chapter 8 Helen Macfarlane's Interpretation of Hegel
Chapter 9 Antigone in 1848
Chapter 10 Thomas Carlyle and the Red Republicans
Chapter 11 Translator of The Communist Manifesto
Chapter 12 Theory and Organization
Chapter 13 "A Rare Bird:" Marx's Encounter with Macfarlane
Chapter 14 The End of Chartism
Chapter 15 The Legacy of Hegelian Marxism
16 Appendix A, The Published Writings of Helen Macfarlane
17 Appendix B, The Communist Manifesto: Helen Macfarlane's 1850 Translation
Helen Macfarlane was a truly remarkable figure: the first translator of The Communist Manifesto, an early socialist who discussed Hegel, Christianity, and revolution, and a merciless critic of all forms of domination, whether by class, race, or gender. She flickered briefly across British radicalism before disappearing from the historical record. Dave Black has done a marvelous job of excavation, contextualization, and careful analysis, giving us the first-ever book on Macfarlane's life and work. An additional merit of this volume is the reprinting of Macfarlane's sometimes very beautiful translation of the Manifesto.
— Kevin B. Anderson, co-editor of Marx on Suicide
David Black has rendered British social history - and the history of Chartism in particular - as well as the history of socialist ideas in Britain a distinct service by devoting a book-length study to this remarkable woman.
— Victorian Studies
In Helen Macfarlane: A Feminist Revolutionary Journalist and Philosopher in Mid-Eighteenth Century England, David Black has done astute historical detective work to rescue from erasure a key figure in socialist history. Under the alias of "Howard Morton," Helen Macfarlane wrote the first English translation of The Communist Manifesto for the magazine The Red Republican. An active member of mid-nineteenth century British socialist circles, she contributed to the direction of radical dissent and the legacy of Chartism. Rich in detail, Black's book maps out some of the major debates in which Macfarlane was involved and offers a fascinating archive for anyone interested in the prehistory of British Hegelian thought.
— Rosemary Hennessey, author of Profit and Pleasure: Sexual Identities in Late Capitalism