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Written by John Rose, a longstanding member of the Socialist Workers Party. Read an in depth review by Anne Alexander here.

*A bookmarks publication first printed in 2025—if you are interested in buying multiple copies, please contact Bookmarks directly at bookmarksbookshop.co.uk or call on 020 7637 1848

“Inspired by the Marxian idea that the emancipation of the working class must always be the act of the working class itself, John Rose has written a book that is itself a political inspiration. He offers a comparative analysis of four mass workers’ movements in the late twentieth century in Poland, South Africa, Iran and Brazil. Each movement played a major role in toppling authoritarian regimes, but each was ultimately sidelined by other social forces. Rose offers a close and hard-nosed analysis of the reasons for this outcome and an ambitious, comparative overview that is fresh and thought-provoking.”

Steve Smith, author of Red Petrograd and Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“John Rose has written a most impressive book on a central question that is of concern to all committed socialists: why does it repeatedly prove so difficult for anti-capitalist mass movements to stick to a revolutionary course and thus successfully bring about the transition to a democratic egalitarian society? Drawing on experiences and insights gained during his long revolutionary-socialist life, interviews with many people involved, and a large body of literature, Rose provides a sophisticated comparative analysis of developments in Poland 1980-81, in Iran 1979, in South Africa in the 1980s, and in Brazil 1989.”

Marcel van der Linden, author of Workers of the World: Essays toward a Global Labor History and Western Marxism and the Soviet Union