The Fatal Lure of Politics: The Life and Thought of Vere Gordon Childe

Description

A new and radically different biography of the Australian-born archaeologist and prehistorian, Vere Gordon Childe (1892-1957). In his early life he was active in the Australian labour movement and wrote How Labour Governs (1923), the world&;s first study of parliamentary socialism. At the end of the First World War, he decided to pursue a life of scholarship to &;escape the fatal lure&; of politics and Australian labour&;s &;politicalism,&; his term for its misguided emphasis on parliamentary representation. In Britain, with the publication of The Dawn of European Civilisation (1925), he began a career that would establish him as preeminent in his field and one of the most distinguished scholars of the mid-twentieth century. At the same time, his aim was to &;democratise archaeology,&; to involve people in its practice and to reveal to them What Happened in History (1942), the title of his most popular book. Politics continued to lure him, and for forty years the security services of Britain and Australia continued to spy on him. He supported Russia&;s &;grand and hopeful experiment&; and opposed the rise of fascism. His Australian background reinforced his hatred of colonialism and imperialism. There is a direct line between Childe&;s early radicalism and his final&;and fatal&;political act in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. This is a book about the central place of socialist politics in his life, and his contribution to the theory of history that this politics entailed. Cover Title Page Front Matter Praise for The Fatal Lure of Politics About this Book Copyright and Imprint Information Contents List of Illustrations Dedication Introduction: A Death in the Cold War Part 1. Growing up into Revolution: Sydney and Oxford 1892–1917 Chapter 1 Living in a Divided City Chapter 2 Students and Workers Chapter 3 Socialists and Cooperators Chapter 4 A Cold Northern Superculture Chapter 5 More Outspoken than Any Other Part 2. Labour Intellectual: Australia 1917–1921 Chapter 6 No Compromise Chapter 7 ‘A certain vacillation’ Chapter 8 ‘Yours for the revolution’ Chapter 9 Labour’s Mediating Intellectuals Chapter 10 The World of Labour Chapter 11 A State within the State Chapter 12 The Intelligence Department Chapter 13 The Premier’s Minder Part 3. An Unknown Member of the Proletariat: London 1921–1926 Chapter 14 The Dismissal Chapter 15 A Pauper Colonial Chapter 16 How Labour Governs and The Dawn Chapter 17 ‘A movement that will have to go further’ Part 4. What Happens in History: 1927–1957 Chapter 18 Science as Communism Chapter 19 A Grand and Hopeful Experiment Chapter 20 An Absolutely Sincere Approach to the Party Chapter 21 1956 Chapter 22 A Sentimental Excursion Chapter 23 ‘Australia today is far from a socialist society’ Coda: Childe’s Revolutions and the Fatal Lure End Matter Acknowledgements Bibliography Index About the Author