England and the USA

This chapter locates The English Utopia in the context of early postwar debates about the Soviet UnionSoviet Union, the Labour PartyLabour Party, and conservatism in England and Britain, as well as the publication of the CPGBCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB)’s The British Road to Socialism (1951). This also involves discussion of Morton’s role (and the role of his publications) in CPGBCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) critiques of American cultural and military imperialismImperialism and the promotion of a homegrown tradition (radical or otherwise). Some consideration is given to Morton’s early emphasis on the critical study of a pre-socialist national myth of liberation and of millenarianism which anticipated the more celebrated work of Christopher HillHill, Christopher and Eric HobsbawmHobsbawm, Eric. This chapter also includes a discussion of the curious dispute that arose within the CPGBCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) over the non-publication of a critical review of The English Utopia in Labour Monthly. Reviewing the relevant letters, an explanation is given of why there was no review published and what the exchanges reveal about how Morton saw himself in relation to party discipline.