First Published in 1988. We live in reactionary times, at the time of writing the hard right is established in the UK and America. At the same time Britain has given birth to a number of progressive forces – the left-wing borough councils, the anti-nuclear movement including its impact at Greenham Common, an established women’s movement, the miners’ strike, the uprisings in the inner cities and the anti-racist struggle, while in America we have seen the advance of the Rainbow coalition and other progressive movements. Whatever the way forward, for the left, there is a fundamental need for a re-evaluation of basic Marxist scholarship but in the light of the significance of these historical and current realities. This book aims to play some small part in that process. The central focus is, of course, education but the issues raised range far wider.