Our History
The current version of our club was launched in 2015, but Left Book Club has a long history.
“The aim of the Left Book Club is a simple one. It is to help in the terribly urgent struggle for world peace and against fascism”
—Victor Gollancz
Celebrating 90 years
This year we're celebrating 90 years since the Left Book Club was originally founded by British publisher Victor Gollancz. With 57,000 members, the club was widely credited with playing a part in Labour's landslide victory in 1945 and the creation of the welfare state.
Today we want to replicate the success of the original Left Book Club, bringing together people in communities across the UK to read, debate and organise together.
Read more about Gollancz and the history of the club here.
Our Editorial Panel
Our panellists include writers, activists, trade unionists, booksellers, publishers and academics. They bring a wide range of expertise from different political fields and traditions. Volunteering their time for free, the panel read a huge number of books, of which twelve per year are selected for publication in Left Book Club editions.
Panel Members
David Castle: Chair of the Panel and Publisher at Left Book Club.
Gargi Bhattacharyya: Director, Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation, University College London
Katherine Bugos: Co-Manager, Housmans Bookshop
Siobhán Cannon-Brownlie: Lecturer, theatre-maker and member of Equity's Deaf and Disabled Members Committee
Yassin El-Moudden: Journalist and educator
Mary Evans: Visiting Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science
Jeremy Gilbert: Professor of Cultural and Political Theory, University of East London
Nik Gorecki: Co-ordinator for the Alliance of Radical Booksellers
Gawain Little: General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions
Nicole McNeal: Lecturer in English at Sacramento State University, USA
Stuart Napier: Disabled architectural designer, founder and facilitator of the Nottingham Left Book Club reading group
Neel Sengupta: Head of Research and Outreach at Jarrow Insights
Karen Shook: Communications Officer, International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science