Martin Empson
@resolutereader.bsky.social
One man's odyssey through the world of books. Author of 'Land & Labour', 'Kill All the Gentlemen', 'Socialism or Extinction', "The Time of the Harvest has Come!" Interested in Marxism, history, ecology, revolution. SWP.
Pinned
Ready for the 500th anniversary, my book "The Time of the Harvest has Come: Revolution, Reformation adn the German Peasants' War" is now available.
⭐️Get it from all good bookshops or direct from the publishers @bookmarksbookshop.bsky.social
bookmarksbookshop.co.uk/product/the-...
⭐️Get it from all good bookshops or direct from the publishers @bookmarksbookshop.bsky.social
bookmarksbookshop.co.uk/product/the-...
Thanks to Bob Copeland for this review of my book "The Time of the Harvest has Come" in the West England Byline Times.
westenglandbylines.co.uk/society/book...
westenglandbylines.co.uk/society/book...
Book Review: ‘The time of the harvest has come’
At the dawn of capitalism German peasants sought a fairer society; they were slaughtered but the struggle continues
westenglandbylines.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Thanks to Bob Copeland for this review of my book "The Time of the Harvest has Come" in the West England Byline Times.
westenglandbylines.co.uk/society/book...
westenglandbylines.co.uk/society/book...
Thanks to Nick Matthews for his generous review in the Morning Star of my book on the German Peasants' War: "Time of the Harvest has Come!" morningstaronline.co.uk/article/500-...
500 years since the peasants’ war
BAD FRANKENHAUSEN is a spa town in the German state of Thuringia and is home to one of the most astonishing socialist works of art ever produced.An enormous panorama based upon Friedrich Engels’s 1850...
morningstaronline.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Thanks to Nick Matthews for his generous review in the Morning Star of my book on the German Peasants' War: "Time of the Harvest has Come!" morningstaronline.co.uk/article/500-...
A clear understanding of the nature of fascism is urgently needed. This collection of material by Clara Zetkin "Fighting Fascism: How to struggle and how to win" is very useful. Here's my review of this important book edited by Mike Taber and John Riddell.
resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/11/clar...
resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/11/clar...
Clara Zetkin - Fighting Fascism: How to struggle and how to win
Editors Mike Taber and John Riddell open their introduction to this short but incredibly useful collection by writing "seldom has there been...
resolutereader.blogspot.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:50 PM
A clear understanding of the nature of fascism is urgently needed. This collection of material by Clara Zetkin "Fighting Fascism: How to struggle and how to win" is very useful. Here's my review of this important book edited by Mike Taber and John Riddell.
resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/11/clar...
resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/11/clar...
Prince William's PR team misjudged it badly in releasing this photo due to the carbon emitted by his flight to the #COP30 climate talks. But if William contributes nothing to the talks, the 1000s of fossil fuel industry "delegates" hanging around Belem actively destroy them.
November 8, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Prince William's PR team misjudged it badly in releasing this photo due to the carbon emitted by his flight to the #COP30 climate talks. But if William contributes nothing to the talks, the 1000s of fossil fuel industry "delegates" hanging around Belem actively destroy them.
Tonight's viewing was one of the best Spaghetti Westerns, and one of the best films about revolution: A Bullet for the General. Gian Maria Volontè and Lou Castel are fantastic.
November 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Tonight's viewing was one of the best Spaghetti Westerns, and one of the best films about revolution: A Bullet for the General. Gian Maria Volontè and Lou Castel are fantastic.
Hey Labour Party! What to guess who's really "let voters down"?
November 7, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Hey Labour Party! What to guess who's really "let voters down"?
"A key figure in Your Party has revealed an undemocratic and sluggish vision for the founding of the new organisation." socialistworker.co.uk/news/exclusi...
Exclusive: What Your Party insiders are saying
Karie Murphy spoke at a meeting of Your Party insiders on Thursday night and revealed a sluggish and undemocratic vision for the founding
socialistworker.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
"A key figure in Your Party has revealed an undemocratic and sluggish vision for the founding of the new organisation." socialistworker.co.uk/news/exclusi...
Lula da Silva in the Guardian today celebrating the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) as COP30 starts. Here's a good piece on why this is the "worst conservation fund ever". We cannot rely on the market to save the planet. reddmonitor.substack.com/p/the-tropic...
The Tropical Forests Forever Facility: “The worst conservation fund ever?”
Another false solution for tropical forests.
reddmonitor.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Lula da Silva in the Guardian today celebrating the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) as COP30 starts. Here's a good piece on why this is the "worst conservation fund ever". We cannot rely on the market to save the planet. reddmonitor.substack.com/p/the-tropic...
Mamdani's victory in NYC ought to remind us of the long tradition of US socialism. Including rural states, such as when Communists ran part of Montana. See Verlaine Stoner McDonald's "The Red Corner: The Rise & Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana" resolutereader.blogspot.com/2024/10/verl...
Verlaine Stoner McDonald - The Red Corner: The Rise & Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana
If you think of the politics of rural America, you probably think of it in terms of conservativism. A mixture of rugged individualistic poli...
resolutereader.blogspot.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Mamdani's victory in NYC ought to remind us of the long tradition of US socialism. Including rural states, such as when Communists ran part of Montana. See Verlaine Stoner McDonald's "The Red Corner: The Rise & Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana" resolutereader.blogspot.com/2024/10/verl...
Here's the official advice from the US Army in Bavaria, Germany, about how its soldiers & their families can access German foodbanks during the government shutdown. US imperialism always neglects its own.
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
home.army.mil
November 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Here's the official advice from the US Army in Bavaria, Germany, about how its soldiers & their families can access German foodbanks during the government shutdown. US imperialism always neglects its own.
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
Posterity will ne’er survey
a Nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Dick Cheney:
Stop, traveller, and piss!
a Nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Dick Cheney:
Stop, traveller, and piss!
November 4, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Posterity will ne’er survey
a Nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Dick Cheney:
Stop, traveller, and piss!
a Nobler grave than this:
Here lie the bones of Dick Cheney:
Stop, traveller, and piss!
Saw Palestine 36 today, a remarkable film about the Palestinian Revolt of 1936 against British colonialism. One of the best depictions of revolution I've ever seen on the screen. Our screening broke into chanting of "Free Free Palestine" at the end. Watch the trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bk9...
PALESTINE 36 Official Trailer (2025)
YouTube video by Movie Trailers Source
www.youtube.com
November 2, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Saw Palestine 36 today, a remarkable film about the Palestinian Revolt of 1936 against British colonialism. One of the best depictions of revolution I've ever seen on the screen. Our screening broke into chanting of "Free Free Palestine" at the end. Watch the trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bk9...
Reposted by Martin Empson
October 31, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Looking for material for #COP30 and I found this piece I wrote about climate chaos after COP26. Tragically it holds up v well: "with capitalism dragging the world into climate barbarism, we should remember Luxemburg’s “socialism or barbarism”. socialistworker.co.uk/in-depth/lon...
It's Code Red, but we can avert climate catastrophe
Author Martin Empson examines the IPCC report and its implications.
socialistworker.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Looking for material for #COP30 and I found this piece I wrote about climate chaos after COP26. Tragically it holds up v well: "with capitalism dragging the world into climate barbarism, we should remember Luxemburg’s “socialism or barbarism”. socialistworker.co.uk/in-depth/lon...
Good & confident from Zara Sultana. But we don't have 10,20,30,40 years. We need serious action now to beat fossil fuel capital before it beats us. @thisisyourparty has to be an insurgent force on the streets & workplaces. Not just at the ballot box www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Zarah Sultana sets sights on replacing Labour and gaining power
MP who left Labour in July to form leftwing grouping with Jeremy Corbyn, says party is not just one of protest
www.theguardian.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Good & confident from Zara Sultana. But we don't have 10,20,30,40 years. We need serious action now to beat fossil fuel capital before it beats us. @thisisyourparty has to be an insurgent force on the streets & workplaces. Not just at the ballot box www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Excellent piece by @alexcallinicos.bsky.social on Michael Kidron, the Permanent Arms Economy, its contemporary relevance and some recent debates on the left. isj.org.uk/kidron-polit...
Understanding the Permanent Arms Economy: an introduction to the political economy of Michael Kidron • International Socialism
Capitalism and war have always been profoundly connected. Max Weber noted the important role that financing the wars of European states played in the development of early modern capitalism.1 The bond ...
isj.org.uk
October 31, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Excellent piece by @alexcallinicos.bsky.social on Michael Kidron, the Permanent Arms Economy, its contemporary relevance and some recent debates on the left. isj.org.uk/kidron-polit...
My latest review covers a book about an important and neglected period of radical British trade unionism. Ralph Darlington's book "Labour Revolt in Britain 1910-1914". This is one for all militants today! resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/10/ralp...
Ralph Darlington - Labour Revolt in Britain 1910-1914
The great "Labour Unrest" or "Labour Revolt" that exploded across Britain from 1910 to 1914 is little known to most trade union and left act...
resolutereader.blogspot.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:01 PM
My latest review covers a book about an important and neglected period of radical British trade unionism. Ralph Darlington's book "Labour Revolt in Britain 1910-1914". This is one for all militants today! resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/10/ralp...
You remember the tragedy? Well here's the farce. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘I am not done’: Kamala Harris says she may run for president again
In a BBC interview, former vice-president says she isn’t done with politics and could ‘possibly’ be the next president
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
You remember the tragedy? Well here's the farce. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Further expressions of the desire for radical alternatives
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Leftwinger Catherine Connolly wins Ireland presidential election by landslide
Heather Humphreys concedes defeat after early vote tallies show insurmountable gap between candidates
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Further expressions of the desire for radical alternatives
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Clara Zetkin's closing words from her report on fascism to the Comintern in 1923 remain inspiring today. From @haymarketbooks.org's Fighting Fascism
October 25, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Clara Zetkin's closing words from her report on fascism to the Comintern in 1923 remain inspiring today. From @haymarketbooks.org's Fighting Fascism
Very proud of my friend & comrade Carol Williams who scored 20% as a independent candidate for Your Party in Moseley. Despite the bleak world situation, this shows that there's a thirst for a radical alternative to Labour's betrayals and Reforms racism. socialistworker.co.uk/news/sociali...
Socialist Carol Williams takes 20 percent in Birmingham by-election
With support from the striking bin workers, Palestine activists and disaffected Labour voters, Carol Williams took third in the by-election.
socialistworker.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Very proud of my friend & comrade Carol Williams who scored 20% as a independent candidate for Your Party in Moseley. Despite the bleak world situation, this shows that there's a thirst for a radical alternative to Labour's betrayals and Reforms racism. socialistworker.co.uk/news/sociali...
What more could you want on a Friday, but my review of volume II of Leon Trotsky's writings on the First Five Years of the Communist International? resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/10/leon...
Leon Trotsky - The First Five Years of the Communist International (Vol. II)
Volume one of this collection of Trotsky's essays on the early Communist International was dominated by excitement as revolution swept Europ...
resolutereader.blogspot.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
What more could you want on a Friday, but my review of volume II of Leon Trotsky's writings on the First Five Years of the Communist International? resolutereader.blogspot.com/2025/10/leon...
An excellent summary by @jchoonara.bsky.social of the current state of British politics and the challenge posed by the far-right's recent rapid growth isj.org.uk/hope_amid_ho...
Hope amid horror? Britain’s new left and far right • International Socialism
The horrors accompanying the breakdown of earlier methods of managing and organising global capitalism were very much in evidence this autumn.1 The genocide in Gaza most starkly symbolises this—but on...
isj.org.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:33 AM
An excellent summary by @jchoonara.bsky.social of the current state of British politics and the challenge posed by the far-right's recent rapid growth isj.org.uk/hope_amid_ho...
Reposted by Martin Empson
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
It's always DNS
October 20, 2025 at 9:38 AM
It's always DNS