Here we republish an extract from the new introduction to Peter Fryer’s ‘Hungarian Tragedy’, by General Secretary of the RCP, Ben Gliniecki. This begins our series of articles to commemorate the Hungarian people’s noble and valiant struggle for genuine socialism.

90 years ago, the workers and youth of Leeds, led by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), organised a victorious battle against Oswald Mosley’s fascist Blackshirts. Battered, bruised, and humiliated, Mosley’s forces never dared to march in Leeds again.

News of the death of comrade Jim Brookshaw came as a cruel blow to all who knew him. Here, Alan Woods, Jim’s close friend and comrade, pays tribute to this lifelong class fighter and reflects on Jim’s journey from Stalinism to genuine Marxism.

90 years on, the Battle of Cable Street should be studied by everyone who wants to fight the far right today. But one part of the story is often missed: not everyone on the left wanted to fight the fascists. Have today’s leaders learned from yesterday’s cowardice?

‘Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel’ (1970) reveals the crushing reality of life and death in Nazi-occupied Ukraine – depicting the bitter struggle for survival against famine, deportations, executions, and terror.

Tishani Doshi’s poetry collection ‘Egrets, While War’ vividly captures the churning chaos of life today. Combining personal reflections, political critique, and cutting humour, her work faces head-on the horrors of the modern world, without falling into despair.