Against Miserabilism is a love letter, out of the past, to a new generation of radicals. It’s a collection of articles by David Widgery, who, in addition to working as a full-time medical doctor in London’s East End, wrote prolifically on matters of political and cultural importance from the 1960s till the time of his death in 1992. Although his articles were written some time ago, in this collection writers who knew him introduce and update his work for today’s readers. His commentary on healthcare, Black activism and culture, feminism, other civil rights and the political Left remains relevant. His unique viewpoint as a doctor and a politically active Marxist informs all of his writings.

“Socialists are people too. Their lives are not all about ‘politics’. Indeed the strength of Widgery’s writings is to show how it is only the lived experience of people’s lives that makes their politics real. There are only a handful of revolutionary socialists who have ever been able to write convincingly about popular music, about suffering and dying – and indeed self-critically about the successes and failures of the socialist movement itself. It is astonishing to read pieces written 30/40 years ago that are so prescient. This collection is a living memorial to and by one of the finest writers and critics ever produced by the revolutionary left.” – Stuart Weir, former editor of the New Statesman (1987-91); founder of the democratic movement Charter 88

“This anthology is as much a historical document as it is of interest as a reflection of the continuity of humanistic left concerns and principles between the 1960s and 1970s and now. It is the work of an inspired individual who is of interest as a doctor and agitator.” – Nina Power, writer and academic, senior lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Roehampton, and tutor in Critical Writing in Art & Design at the Royal College of Art

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