- Keith Flett
Keith Flett (born 1956 in
London ) is a socialist historian and "self-appointed epistolary custodian of the Left" in London,United Kingdom .Activities
Letters from "Keith Flett, London N17" are frequently published in the press, literary and political journals, advancing his favoured causes of
socialism and theBeard Liberation Front . Flett appears frequently in the letters pages of "Tribune", "New Statesman " and the "London Review of Books ". Flett claimed that his first published letter was in the "Guardian" newspaper, criticising an article by ProfessorEric Hobsbawm on Soviet history.Flett has written and edited a number of history books. He has also written for the left-wing newspapers "
The Morning Star " and the "Socialist Worker ". He is an active supporter of the Socialist Workers Party and the Respect Coalition. He is convenor of theLondon Socialist Historians Group and the president of theHaringey Trades Council.Flett is the 'organiser' of the Beard Liberation Front (which campaigns against the trend of New Labour politicians removing their facial hair to show a more moderate, presentable, image to the public). He is also associated with Campaign for Real Conkers. In this Flett forms part of a British political tradition (along with the likes of
David Sutch ) of using tongue-in-cheek flippancy to make more serious political points.Publications
* "Chartism After 1848 : The Working Class and the Politics of Radical Education" (Chartist Studies series). Merlin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-85036-544-9.
* "The Twentieth Century: A Century of Wars and Revolutions" (ed. with David Renton). Rivers Oram Press, 2000. ISBN 1-85489-126-X.
* "New Approaches to Socialist History" (ed. with David Renton). New Clarion Press, 2003. ISBN 1-873797-41-9.
*"1956 and All That" (editor). Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007. ISBN 1847181848References
* Routledge, Paul, "Bumper Book of British Lefties", 2003, Politicos (ISBN 1-84275-064-X)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/3712764.stm BBC: Pupils wear goggles for conkers, 4/10/2004]
* Flett, Keith. "My kind of decade" in "The Pink Paper", 14th. November, 1997, issue 507, page 21 qv * [http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/~stafflag/pinkpaper.html Knitting Circle]External links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2955883.stm BBC reports on Beard Liberation Front awards]
* [http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj88/flett.htm "Socialists and the origins of Labour"] by Keith Flett
* [http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr263/flett.htm "May Day: Festival for the workers"] (2002 article by Keith Flett)
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