'To those who are on the look out for a detailed introduction to the life and works of Connolly, there are surely few better place to make a start ... Essential reading.' Irish Democrat

'An easy, short and informative biography of the activism of the man who spent his whole adult life in the cause of worker's emancipation.' Irish World

'We owe [the editor], and Pluto Press, a debt of thanks for making the works of one of Ireland's most remarkable political thinkers, writers and activists, more widely available.' Camden New Journal

'The appearance in print of any of James Connolly’s writings is very much to be welcomed ... A useful introduction to Connolly’s particular brand of socialism.' Irish Studies Review

On 12 May 1916, James Connolly was executed by the British for his part in the Irish Easter Rising. A Marxist theoretician, historian, trade union organiser and revolutionary, he was a prolific writer. He is regarded as a founding father of the modern Irish state in spite of its rejection of his political ideals. Yet Connolly’s teachings have had a profound affect on recent generations of Irish nationalists and socialists, especially in the struggle in the North of Ireland.

This highly regarded edition of Connolly’s writings draws together some of Connolly’s most representative work and provides an accessible introduction to one of the major socialist thinkers of the twentieth century. It is now reissued with a new preface by the editor.