A Celebration of the Work and Ideas of Gerrard Winstanley
-400th Anniversary Since the Birth of the Digger Leader
7pm, Thursday 19 November 2009
Speakers Thomas Corns, University of Bangor, co-author of a biography of John Milton, and Ann Hughes, University of Keele, author of “The Causes of the English Civil War” (1998).
Organised by the SHS in association with the South Place Ethical Society.
Venue: Russell Room, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1
Gerrard Winstanley, who was born in 1609, was one of the foremost activists of the English Revolution. His uncompromising reinterpretation of the Christian message in response to the political and economic crises of the mid-17th Century took religious thought in an egalitarian and Communistic direction and through his many writings we can still hear a unique voice expressing ideas that were well ahead of his times. The Complete Works of Gerrard Winstanley, due out in December, comes in two volumes at a combined 1,000 pages. This is the first comprehensive edition of the Digger leader’s writings and aims to establish Winstanley’s distinctive contribution to political and ethical ideas.
Profs Tom Corns and Ann Hughes, two of the editors of this new volume, will address Winstanley’s ideas and their relevance for today.
The event is free and refreshments will be provided courtesy of SPECS.
For further information see:
www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk
www.conwayhall.org.uk