The TUC and social democratic trade union leadership in twentieth century Britain: Bevin, Citrine and after. Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill, by Adonis, Andrew, Biteback, London, 2020. Walter Citrine: Forgotten Statesman of the Trades Union Congress, by Dr Moher, Jim, JGM Books, London, 2021 (Book review)

Abstract

Trade unions and industrial relations (IR) are central to twentieth century British History and the larger political conflicts of the Cold War. Yet, biographies of major trade union leaders are few and far between these days. Indeed, there is a danger that political historians lose the entire, now arcane industrial language of collective bargaining (shop stewards, industry bargaining, unofficial strikes and so on); without which it becomes impossible to understand an IR and political world that has largely passed. So, it is very welcome to have these two new studies. For Ernest Bevin and Walter Citrine, seen together, are crucial to understanding the rise of British trade unions to national prominence, between 1918 and 1945. ‘They were the two most remarkable leaders that the British trade union movement has ever produced’, according to Hugh Clegg (1994, p. 113; see too 1985, p. 551). And they made their decisive contribution to a distinctive and pioneering British social democratic IR long before the election of the 1945 Labour Government.