A friend of mine recently sent me some stuff in the post, a film and a few books. One of these books I spent much of the day reading- Anti-Fascist by Martin Lux (a veteran anti-fascist and I believe one of the early members of Class War). Have met Martin myself, most memorably roughly ten years ago when I went up to Whitechapel with a mate and comrade of mine to take part in what was to be the defence of Tower Hamlets ward from an EDL march (though there was really no 'action' as there were police everywhere). He was at the time still involved at an old age in anti-fascist organising, lending his experience to younger anti-fascists. He is a nice bloke from my experience, a warm character with a great sense of humour and a good knowledge of the history of where he lives and he made us all feel at home.
This is a rather lumpen-proletariat viewpoint of certain militant Anti-fascist goings on (ie. violent confrontations with fascists, mainly the National Front). Martin starts the book with a bit about his background and what got him into militant Anti-fascism, the remainder of the book being accounts of significant battles with Nazi groups on the streets in the 1970's.
I must say that I found the working-class, cockney writing style and humour refreshing and most enjoyable and engrossing, Martin has a way with words and his discriptions of things are brilliant. Also, although this is a book about violent confrontations, there is great humour throughout the chapters. And I have to admit, it's an exiting read. Martin has a healthy disdain, not only for Nazis, fascists and conformists and conservatives generally, but also for the authoritarian left (who he gives examples of being, back in the day, very socially conservative) and certain types of middle class politicos and pacifists.
His attitude towards feminists and 'anti-sexist' men , though, comes across as dated and harsh, but perhaps he is describing a certain type of middle class politico of the left that he encountered in these times (he describes how these people accused him of being macho and therefore sexist and being just as bad as the fascists- which he hated)- still, it left me feeling uncomfortable (though maybe it's possible, over the years, that Martin has changed his attitude in this regard- I don't know). Other than that though, a bloody good read. 25 brief chapters, finished the book in one day - though I did spend much of the day reading it, it's definitely not a long read though.
This is a rather lumpen-proletariat viewpoint of certain militant Anti-fascist goings on (ie. violent confrontations with fascists, mainly the National Front). Martin starts the book with a bit about his background and what got him into militant Anti-fascism, the remainder of the book being accounts of significant battles with Nazi groups on the streets in the 1970's.
I must say that I found the working-class, cockney writing style and humour refreshing and most enjoyable and engrossing, Martin has a way with words and his discriptions of things are brilliant. Also, although this is a book about violent confrontations, there is great humour throughout the chapters. And I have to admit, it's an exiting read. Martin has a healthy disdain, not only for Nazis, fascists and conformists and conservatives generally, but also for the authoritarian left (who he gives examples of being, back in the day, very socially conservative) and certain types of middle class politicos and pacifists.
His attitude towards feminists and 'anti-sexist' men , though, comes across as dated and harsh, but perhaps he is describing a certain type of middle class politico of the left that he encountered in these times (he describes how these people accused him of being macho and therefore sexist and being just as bad as the fascists- which he hated)- still, it left me feeling uncomfortable (though maybe it's possible, over the years, that Martin has changed his attitude in this regard- I don't know). Other than that though, a bloody good read. 25 brief chapters, finished the book in one day - though I did spend much of the day reading it, it's definitely not a long read though.
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