First published in 1920, Social Theory endeavours to put together the social contents of various experiences of the ordinary man, and to make them, as far as they form one, a coherent and consistent whole. Social theory is not concerned directly with all the actions of individual men, but mainly with their actions taken in concert through some temporary or permanent organized group, and with the actions of such groups as they affect and react upon the individual. It is not primari...

First published in 1928, The Payment of Wages came out amid the controversies over workshop conditions caused by the Great War. It has held its place as the standard work describing the various systems of wage payments and their effects. Mr. Cole raises challengingly the question of the need for a completely new policy on the part of the trade unions and employees alike. This book is sure to provoke discussion, and would be of interest to students of economy and history.

First published in 1956, The Post-War Condition of Britain measures the extent of changes in Britain since the thirties. It contains more than two hundred tables on such matters as the national income, employment, production and productivity, investment and consumption; health, education, housing, and the insurance, assistance and similar services; on Trade Unions and industrial relations; class structure, political attitudes and party organizations; and the problems of local gove...

First published in 1920, Chaos and Order in Industry studies the causes and solutions to labour strikes as well as inadequacies in industry organizations. It proposes that the problems afflicting industry and labour does not only affect the working class, but also affects the middle and the upper class who may be unable to realize the connection due to their class prejudice. It states that the industry needs to comply with human standards of value by which it is being judged. This...

First published in 1938 and updated and rewritten in 1946, G D H Cole and Raymond Postgate’s ‘T***he Common People. 1746-1946***’ is a classic study of British working class history from the defeat of the Jacobite cause at Culloden in 1746 through to the end of WWII in 1946. Its 714 pages provide a comprehensive overview of British working class life from a libertarian socialist perspective from the end of the Jacobite rebellion to 1946: eighteenth century social and political movements; t...

This book explores G.D.H Cole’s significant yet often overlooked role in the history of British Sociology from 1920-1960. Eager to achieve a sense of scientific legitimacy following its institutionalisation in the early 1900s, British sociology had no space for a scholar like Cole, who saw sociology as an innately normative and political project which, in his case, was dedicated to the development of socialism. Conceptualising Cole's relationship to sociology as one of semi-alienation - su...

First published in 1937, What is Ahead of Us? is a collection of essays, which were originally presented as lectures before the Fabian Society. Conceived in an era of growing fascism and economic despair, the essays urge the reader to imagine more equitable alternatives to capitalism. The authors offer socialism as a solution but what is more interesting is their criticism of capitalism and the connections they draw between capitalism and fascism using examples from the West. This...

This book, first published in 1942, covers the whole field of wartime life and organization. Is the private ownership and control of industry holding up production? Are the burdens of war being shared equally by the whole community? How can individual liberty be reconciled with maximum efficiency? Are women taking their rightful share in the national effort? Does our literature and art reflect the spirit of an aroused and determined people? Have we a message which will win the oppressed pe...

This time, we have original mysteries from Wil A. Emerson (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and Billie Livingston, plus a great tale by Art Taylor (thanks to Acquiring editor Barb Goffman). Our mystery novel is by Golden Age British author G.D.H. Cole. Plus, of course, there’s a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles.On the science fiction and fantasy end, we have tales by Grand Master Robert Silverberg, plus classics by Stephen Marlowe, William P. Salton, and a nove...

English political pluralism is a challenging school of political thought, neglected in recent years but now enjoying a revival of interest. It is particularly relevant today because it offers a critique of centralized sovereign state power. The leading theorists of the pluralist state were G.D.H. Cole, J.N. Figgis and H.J. Laski, and this volume brings together their most important ideas, making accessible a crucial body of work on radical political theory. It includes their major writings...

This book demonstrates the importance of democracy for understanding modern international relations and recovers the pluralist tradition of L.T. Hobhouse, G.D.H. Cole, and David Mitrany. It shows that pluralism’s typical interest in civil society, trade unionism, and transnationalism evolved as part of a wide-ranging democratic critique that representative democracies are hardly self-sustaining and are ill-equipped to represent all entitled social and political interests in international r...