Civil Wars After 1956

After a look at Morton’s everyday life in the 1950s, this chapter turns to his interest in William BlakeBlake, William and Blake’s role in bridging the legacy of seventeenth-century religious radicalism and the rise of a secularised workers’ movement. In his book The Everlasting Gospel (1958), Morton also traced the history of medieval millenarian ideas from Europe to Blake’s London, the same year the anti-Communist Norman CohnCohn, Norman published his more celebrated work on millenarianism. The similarities and differences between Morton and CohnCohn, Norman were noted among Marxist historians, and this chapter reassesses the place of Morton in the critical study of millenarianism. This chapter also looks at how Morton toned down (but did not abandon) his promotion of the Soviet UnionSoviet Union from 1957 onwards. It looks further at Morton’s ongoing work with the Soviet UnionSoviet Union, including writing on ChartismChartism for Russian translation and engaging with Soviet scholarship. Such work also reveals Morton’s ongoing critique of middle-class intellectuals too removed from the workers. However, Morton engaged in both friendly and critical terms with the emerging New LeftNew Left which is even reflected in his work on the Arthurian legends.