A James Connolly Reader

Considered by many to be Ireland's most important revolutionary, James Connolly devoted his life to struggles against exploitation, oppression and imperialism. Active across the world, Connolly was a peerless organiser, sharp polemicist, and highly original thinker. This collection of his most important writings, with an extensive introduction from the editor, returns Connolly to his proper place in Irish and global history, and seeks to inspire people today with his vision of a world free of militarism, injustice and deprivation.

Table of Contents:
Irish Socialist Republican Party Socialism and Nationalism Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee The Men We Honour Compromise The Gaelic Revival The Roots of Modern War A Socialist Candidate for Dublin Corporation State Monopoly versus Socialism Socialism and Religion International Capitalism The Kaiser and the Class War Socialism and Royalty Soldiers of the Queen Physical Force in Irish Politics The South African War Law and Order Imperialism and Socialism A Plea for the Children Let Us Free Ireland! The Coming Generation Coronation of King Edward VII Taken Root! The New Danger: Socialists and Coalition Declaration of the Principles for the Irish Socialist Federation The Coming Revolt in India I The Coming Revolt in India II Socialism Made Easy Erin’s Hope: The End and The Means Sinn Féin and the Language Movement Emigration To Irish Wage Workers in America Facets of American Liberty Sinn Féin, Socialism and the Nation Learning Their Lesson Ballots, Bullets, Or -? Industrial Unionism and Trade Unions Labour in Irish History Sweatshops Behind the Orange Flag Ireland, Karl Marx and William Walker Direct Action in Belfast Visit of King George V Some Rambling Remarks British Labour and Irish Politicians North-East Ulster July the Twelfth A Forgotten Chapter in Irish History Belfast and Dublin Today The Dublin Lock Out: On the Eve Glorious Dublin! How to Release Larkin Irish Rebels and English Mobs A Titanic Struggle A Fiery Cross or Christmas Bells The Isolation of Dublin Labour and the Proposed Partition of Ireland The Exclusion of Ulster Old Wine in New Bottles Our Duty in This Crisis A Continental Revolution The National Danger A Martyr for Conscience Sake The War Upon the German Nation The Hope of Ireland Socialists and the War Revolutionary Unionism and War Moscow Insurrection of 1905 For the Citizens Army Ireland - Disaffected or Revolutionary? The Ties That Bind Economic Conscription Woman What Is Our Programme? Cannon Fodder for British Imperialism We Will Rise Again The Irish Flag Last Statement

About the Author :
Shaun Harkin: Shaun Harkin is an activist and writer presently based in Derry City, Ireland. He is a member of the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit Alliance. He is a regular contributor to Socialist Worker (U.S.), the International Socialist Review, and? Socialist Worker (Ireland). James Connolly: James Connolly (1868 1916) was an Irish republican and socialist leader, aligned to syndicalism and the Industrial Workers of the World. He became one of the leading Marxist theorists of his day. He was executed by a British firing squad because of his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916.

Review :
"James Connolly was an uncompromising fighter for Irish freedom and a socialist for all the world. He lived in tumultuous times in dire poverty in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Everywhere, he enriched the working class. Connolly was a teacher of socialism and a militant unions organizer. He wielded words like a scimitar, slicing through the thickets of lives to get to capitalism's noxious heart. He wrote socialist songs which can still ring the rafters today. Connolly died in the struggle for national liberation in Dublin in 1916, having never given an inch to patriots who couldn't stand socialism. With an erudite introduction and a glittering selection of his penetrating, polemical, incisive, inspiring writings, Shaun Harkin has produced the Connolly book which socialists across the world have been waiting for." —Eamonn McCann "admirably researched" –Irish Independent “Many [books about James Connolly] tend to be quite partial and serve more to try and make Connolly’s memory serve the political agenda of the author, rather than illuminate the actual thinking of the man. For a handy alternative to this sort of thing, Haymarket books have brought out this paperback that will make an extremely good starting point for anyone who wants to know more about his real thoughts and beliefs.” –Counterfire “A book that should be on school shelves, as much as those of someone who wishes for a fairer society. Essential.” –NJ McGarrigle, Irish Times “The legacy of James Connolly, Ireland’s pre-eminent Marxist revolutionary, has been appropriated and sanitised by every political tradition including the Irish state to such an extent that his historical role has often been obscured. Shaun Harkin’s selection of Connolly’s writing shines a penetrating light through this fog and allows him to speak for himself.” –Socialist Review