David Goodway (born 1942) is a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and a respected international authority on

Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

and on

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

and

libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (201 ...

Life

Goodway was born in the English Midlands town of

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

in 1942. He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

. His doctoral thesis was supervised by the renowned historian

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...

and formed the basis of his first book on the history of Chartism in London, '' London Chartism'', an acknowledged classic work on the subject. He has had a long-running interest in the Chartist

George Julian Harney George Julian Harney (17 February 1817 – 9 December 1897) was a British political activist, journalist, and Chartist leader. He was also associated with Marxism, socialism, and universal suffrage. Early life George Julian Harney, the son ...

and discovered that a considerable portion of Harney's personal library is held at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He taught at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

from 1969 to 2005. Goodway has had a lifelong engagement with literature and in 1969 was a founder member of the Powys Society, which promotes the appreciation and study particularly of

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

. He has edited the correspondence between Powys and the American anarchist

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...

. He has also written widely about writers in the British left libertarian tradition, such as

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his nonfiction sex manual, ''The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologist, ...

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

Colin Ward Colin Ward (14 August 1924 – 11 February 2010)

and

Maurice Brinton Christopher Agamemnon Pallis (2 December 1923, in Bombay – 10 March 2005, in London) was an Anglo-Greek neurologist and libertarian socialist intellectual. Under the pen-names Martin Grainger and Maurice Brinton, he wrote and translated for th ...

- notably in his book '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward''. In 2015, he became a member of the Friends of Freedom Press Ltd, which safeguards the interest of the anarchist publisher the

Freedom Press Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house and bookseller in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the country and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is bas ...

. He wrote an appreciation of the anarchist journal ''

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

'' when it stopped regular publication after almost 130 years.

Selected publications

* ''

London Chartism, 1838–1848 ''London Chartism, 1838–1848'' is a 1982 book-length history of the 19th century Chartism social movement in London, as written by David Goodway and published by Cambridge University Press. Further reading * * * * * * * * * * * ...

'' (1982) * '' For Anarchism: History, Theory, and Practice'' (editor) (1989) * ''Against Power and Death: The Anarchist Articles and Pamphlets of Alex Comfort'' (editor)(1994) * ''A One-Man Manifesto and Other Writings for Freedom Press by Herbert Read'' (editor) (1994) * ''Herbert Read Reassessed'' (editor) (1998) * ''Talking Anarchy'' (with

Colin Ward Colin Ward (14 August 1924 – 11 February 2010)

) (2003, 2nd edition 2014) * ''For Workers' Power: The Selected Writings of Maurice Brinton'' (editor) (2004, 2nd edition 2020) * '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward'' (2006, 2nd edition 2012) * ''The Letters of John Cowper Powys and Emma Goldman'' (editor) (2007) *

Nicolas Walter Nicolas Hardy Walter (22 November 1934 – 7 March 2000) was a British anarchist and atheist writer, speaker and activist. He was a member of the Committee of 100 and Spies for Peace, and wrote on topics of anarchism and humanism. Background ...

, ''The Anarchist Past and Other Essays'' (editor) (2007) * ''John Cowper Powys, The Art of Forgetting the Unpleasant and Other Essays'' (editor) (2008) *

, ''Damned Fools in Utopia and Other Writings on Anarchism and War Resistance'' (editor) (2011) * ''The Real History of Chartism: or eight fallacies about the Chartist movement'' (2013) *

, ''The Chartists were Right: selections from the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, 1890-97'' (editor) (2014)

References

External links

Official website
Living people Historians of anarchism 1942 births English historians English anarchists {{UK-historian-stub