Bob Stewart in China. Bob Stewart with the comrades somewhere in China in 1955. Communist family history has had to take a back seat for a while as I’ve had to navigate the UK adult social ca…

George Fletcher standing for Parliament in 1929. I’m currently writing a chapter on Bob Stewart’s life during the decade after The Second World War. During that time the CPGB ran into financial dif…

George Fletcher standing for Parliament in 1929. I’m currently writing a chapter on Bob Stewart’s life during the decade after The Second World War. During that time the CPGB ran into financial dif…

Lenin speaking in Petrograd 1917 Today is the 98th anniversary of Lenin’s death. At that time, Bob Stewart was in the Soviet Union working as a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. I…

I found the following document – a celebration of Scottish history through a communist lens, in Bob Stewart’s files at the National Archives. Been waiting for an occasion to share it an…

Bob Stewart: Conscientious Objector. For Remembrance Sunday here’s something I wrote about Bob Stewart’s experiences as a conscientious objector during the First World War. On the day w…

Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Breakfast With Friedrich Engels. David Rawlings and Gillian Welch at Manchester 02 Apollo. Picture shamelessly nicked from The Guardian. I hadn’t realised quite ho…

Election Poster 1921. This was the first parliamentary election ever to be contested by the British Communist Party. The decision to contest was taken by the Party Executive on July 16th 1921. The …

When we started this project on our great grandfather Bob Stewart, my brother and I both agreed that we thought there was much to admire about the man but also much to criticize. Although I’ve trie…

When we started this project on our great grandfather Bob Stewart, my brother and I both agreed that we thought there was much to admire about the man but also much to criticize. Although I’ve trie…

“The idea that market crashes can act as catalysts for revolutionary change has a long history on the far left, most notably in the Bolshevik theory that hyperinflation, by destroying the value of …

The 1929 National Unemployed March from Glasgow to London arriving at Hyde Park. Frankly, the 1920s do not seem very different to our own times. Huge inequality, increasing poverty and a government…

Tom Mann addressing the crowds at Trafalgar Square. Possibly at the Sacco and Vanzetti protest in 1927. Few members of the public might recognise the name Tom Mann these days but, even though he di…

L-R: Bob Stewart, Unknown, Nikolai Antipov, Grigory Zinoviev, Kliment Voroshilov, Ho Chi Minh, Unknown. Partially visible behind L-R: Avel Yenukidze. One of the benefits of researching a distinctiv…

L-R: Bob Stewart, Unknown, Nikolai Antipov, Grigory Zinoviev, Kliment Voroshilov, Ho Chi Minh, Unknown. Partially visible behind L-R: Avel Yenukidze. One of the benefits of researching a distinctiv…