COMMUNISME - SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE CPGB: A special issue of the French-language Communisme journal ('Regards sur le communisme brittanique') focuses on the history of British communism and the British communist party. The issue is comprised of the following articles: Guillaume Bourgeois, 'Entretien avec Sam Russell' ('Meetings with Sam Russell'); Kevin Morgan, 'Ainsi pour Gallacher: Remarques sur les autobiographies de communistes brittaniques' ('Some views on the production of exemplary communist lives in Britain: the case of William Gallacher'); Gidon Gohen, Kevin Morgan and Andrew Flinn, 'Un cadeau de Russie: les communistes brittaniques à l'École léniniste internationale ('A Gift from Russia: The International Lenin School and British communism'); Nina Fishman, 'La partenaire fidèle. La relation du Parti communiste de Grande-Bretagne avec le mouvement syndical brittanique' ('The Constant Partner: The CPGB's relationship with the British Trade Union Movement'); Andy Croft, 'Leur cuisine vient Paris, leurs opinions de Moscou: les écrivains et le Parti communiste brittanique' ('Their Cookery from Paris, their opinions from Moscow: Writers and the CPGB'); John Callaghan, 'Le Parti communiste dans le Guerre froide ('Communist Politics in the Cold War'); Richard Cross, 'Fin de parti: Le déclin et la dissolution du PCGB' ('The Party's Over: the Decline and Dissolution of the CPGB'); and Christophe le Dreau, 'Parti Communiste de Grande-Bretagne: essai bibliographique' ('The CPGB: A Bibliography'); 'Reperes pour une histoire du trotskisme brittanique, 1925-2005' (A chronology and bibliography of British trotskyism, 1925-2005). Full details of the special issue are: Communisme, No 87, Autumn 2006, ISBN: 978-2-8251-3751-2. For ordering details, contact the publishers: L'Age D'Homme, 5 rue Férou, 75006 Paris, France.

SOCIAL DEMOCRAT AND BRITISH SOCIALIST INDEX: Ted Crawford writes: 'The entire index of Social Democrat (1897-1911) and British Socialist (1912-1913) can now be found online at http://marx.org/history/international/social-democracy/social-democrat. As yet, many articles that the Marxist Internet Archive has at other points on the archive (under, for instance, the relevant authors) cannot be accessed from this index, but it is hoped that this facility can be made available in due course - plus other articles of interest which have no author on the main MIA list. Please note that none of this material is in copyright: the MIA puts everything into the public domain including the index.'

CHILE SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN RESEARCH: Ann Jones, a researcher from the Australian National University, is studying the involvement of the British trade union movement in the Chile Solidarity Campaign from 1973 to 1989. She seeks to talk with trade unionists and/or participants who have memories of the campaign. She would also like to see any pamphlets, badges, posters, newsletters or other paraphernalia from the period. She will visiting the UK in May-June 2007, and can be contacted via email: ann.jones@anu.edu.au.

BERT RAMELSON BIOGRAPHY: Roger Seifert, Director of the Centre for Industrial Relations at Keele University, has begun work on a research project which it is hoped will lead to the publication of a biography of prominent trade union activist and CPGB Industrial Organiser Bert Ramelson. As part of the project, he hopes to interview those who worked with, encountered or have memories of Ramelson at any point throughout his life. For more information about the project, please email: r.v.seifert@hrm.keele.ac.uk..

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: C L R JAMES AND THE BLACK JACOBINS: Christian Hogsbjerg and David Renton write: 'Throughout many of the events organised in Britain to commemorate the bicentenary of the British abolition of the slave trade, one voice has been missing: that of the rebellious slaves themselves, in particular those of St. Domingue/Haiti, the authors of the only successful slave revolt in history, and the people who did more than Wilberforce or anyone else to bring the slave system to an end. 2008 will mark the seventieth anniversary of the publication of The Black Jacobins, C L R James's classic history of the Haitian Revolution. The London Socialist Historians Group and the Institute of Historical Research are commemorating this anniversary with a one-day conference to be held at the IHR, London, on Saturday 2 February 2008. Confirmed keynote speakers include Darcus Howe, Bill Schwarz, and Marika Sherwood. Papers will be considered on any aspect relating to The Black Jacobins and its legacy, including the following: (i) The making of The Black Jacobins: James's biography and the writing of the work; (ii) The Black Jacobins as a historical masterpiece and epic "grand narrative" which overthrew existing interpretations of slavery and its abolition; (iii) The intellectual inspiration of The Black Jacobins for historians in Europe, America, Africa and the Caribbean; (iv) The intellectual inspiration of The Black Jacobins for those involved in liberation struggles in Europe, America, Africa and the Caribbean; (v) The Haitian Revolution and its impact on the struggle against colonial slavery, particularly in Britain; (vi) The legacy of Toussaint L'Ouverture as revolutionary leader. For further information or to send abstracts of papers (up to 1,000 words) until 1 October 2007: Christian Hogsbjerg (cjhogsbjerg@hotmail.com) or David Renton (david.renton@sunderland.ac.uk).

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT - NATIONAL POLITICAL CULTURES AND THE WIDER WORLD: 'National Political Cultures and the Wider World: the transnational dimension of political ideas and party politics in Europe and the United States since 1918'. Matthew Worley, Jon Bell, Linda Risso write: 'Historians have recently become increasingly aware of the extent to which political parties and organisations shared political ideas and experience in an age of rapid industrial and technological change. Although much work has been done on national political cultures and political parties, only in the last decade has much attention been paid to the connections between the national and international dimensions of the political process and of political ideas. From the relationship between different socialist parties after the First World War to the impact of national politics on the processes of european integration to the impact of welfare state building in europe on American liberal politics after the Second World War, attention to transnational aspects of political change in the twentieth century is yielding new insights into the workings of the state in the modern world. These themes will be addressed at a two-day conference to be held at the University of Reading, 4-5 September 2007. The key conference themes will be the transnational dynamics of political culture, political parties, non-governmental organisations, and political ideas in the industrialised world since the First World War. Confirmed speakers include Neville Kirk (Manchester Metropolitan), Victor Gavin (Barcelona), Kenneth Bertrams (Free University of Brussels), Daniel Stedman Jones (Pennsylvania), Jean-Marie Izquierdo (Bordeaux), Andrea Mammone (Leeds/Siena), Axel R. Schäfer (Keele), Wolfram Kaiser, Kevin Morgan (Manchester) and Tauno Saarela (Helsinki).' Further details from Matthew Worley: m.worley@reading.ac.uk.

PRESSE COMMUNISTE: José Gotovitch and Anne Morelli (eds), Presse Communiste, Presse Radicale 1919-2000: Passé/Présent/Avenir? ('The Communist Press and the Radical Press, 1919-2000: Past/Present/Future?'). These are the published proceedings of a conference organised by the Centre d´histoire et de sociologie des Gauches (ULB) in October 2005 and focusing on the roles played by the left-wing press - communist, social-democratic, anarchist, trotskyist, anarcho-syndicalist - both in Belgium and comparatively. Contributors include Pierre Van Den Dungen, Nicolas Latteur, Mathieu Beys, Laurence Mundschau, Nicolas Naif, Manuel Abramowicz, Henri Wehenkel, Alexandre Courban, Leon Strauss, Françoise Olivier-Utard, Sylvain Boulouque, Georges Ubbiali, Kevin Morgan, Luciana Castellina, Didier Monciaud and the personal testimonies of the journalists Georgette Smolski, Jean-Marie Chauvier, and Jacques Moins. For further details and orders, contact: José Gotovitch: jgotovit@ulb.ac.be; CHSG - c/o Gotovitch, ULB CP 175/01, 50 av FD Roosevelt, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.

SYNDICALISM AND REVOLUTIONARY TRADE UNIONISM: The seminar, to be held at the University of Glamorgan on Saturday 22 September 2007, is the second in a series of three one-day seminars at the universities of Manchester, Glamorgan and Leicester. The theme of the seminar series is 'Identity and Self-Representation in European Communist Life Histories'. The seminars aim to reflect on the growing body of research on communist life history and collective memory. While this seminar gives due attention to Wales, the series offers a comparative approach across both national and political dividing lines. The speakers include Alex Gordon (Council of Executives, RMT Union), 'Charles Watkins and Syndicalist Railwaymen'; Kevin Morgan (University of Manchester), 'A A Purcell and Syndicalist Internationalism'; Ralph Darlington (University of Salford), 'The Origins of Syndicalism: An International Comparative Analysis'; Sharif Gemie (University of Glamorgan), 'Heartland of Syndicalism: Spain'; John Manley (University of Central Lancashire), 'The Canadian Communist Party and the Industrial Working Class during WW2'. The organisers, in collaboration with a number of other researchers in the field, aim to turn this initial series of seminars into a regular event. The focus of these seminars - and potentially annual conferences - will be the left; but other related topics will be considered, particularly if offering comparative insight into the left or methodological innovation. The event will cost £10.00 per person, including a buffet lunch and morning and afternoon coffee/tea. More information from Norman La Porte, email: nlaporte@glam.ac.uk.