Now available in Italy from Libreria Universitaria

Our books are now available in Italy from Libreria Universitaria.

Celia Hart's book, It's Never Too Late to Love or Rebel, is available on this web page for just €15 and Ron Ridenour's book, Cuba: Beyond the Crossroads, is on this page at the same price.

"Ecosocialism or Barbarism" book announced

Ecosocialism or Barbarism explains that the twenty-first century has opened on a catastrophic note, with an unprecedented degree of ecological breakdown and a chaotic world order beset with terror and warfare.

In this book, socialists Jane Kelly and Sheila Malone have gathered together articles from some of the world’s leading ecologists and Marxists to discuss how the profoundly interrelated crises of ecology and social breakdown should be seen as different manifestations of the same structural forces.

Jack Kovel and Michel Löwy’s ecosocialist manifesto sets the framework for a discussion which is unfolding around the world. They argue that capitalism cannot regulate, much less overcome, the crises it has set going. It cannot solve the ecological crisis because to do so requires setting limits upon accumulation—an unacceptable option for a system predicated upon the rule: Grow or Die! And it cannot solve the crisis posed by terror and other forms of violent rebellion because this would mean abandoning the logic of empire, imposing unacceptable limits on growth and the “way of life” sustained by empire.

In this unique volume, ecologists and socialists discuss how far the capitalist world system is historically bankrupt. Their common conclusion is that it has become an empire unable to adapt, whose very gigantism exposes its underlying weakness. It is profoundly unsustainable and must be replaced. The stark choice posed by Rosa Luxemburg returns: Socialism or Barbarism!

Celia's book now at Barnes & Noble

Celia's book is now winning an even larger audience through BarnesAndNoble.com. You can click here to see the listing.

Barnes and Noble members can buy the book for just $12.15; quite a saving on the $15 list price.

Celia's book available from Japan

Readers of Japanese can now buy Celia Hart's book from this website.

Celebrate the launch of Ron Ridenour's new book

Ron Ridenour, the celebrated writer on Cuban and Central American politics, will publish his new book, Cuba: Beyond the Crossroads, on November 7th. His books include Cuba: A "Yankee" Reports, Backfire: The CIA's Biggest Burn, Cuba at the Crossroads and Yankee Sandinistas. A committed revolutionary, anti-war activist, and supporter of the Cuban revolution, Ridenour's book gathers report and accounts of his extended journey in Cuba earlier this year. It has already generated widespead controversy.

The 112 page book, which is being published by Socialist Resistance, will be launched on Tuesday 7 November at a meeting to be held at 7.30 pm in the Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Sq., W1T 6AQ (Warren St., Euston or Goodge St stations). The selections below give a flavour of the book.

"Regardless of whether of not Cuba has achieved socialism — it is a long process, after all — the Cuban people and its government are more than worthy of our love and support. They have done no harm to the world and they have helped many millions of people in many lands. They have held out against "the enemy of humanity" to quote from the Sandinista anthem. In so doing, they have held out hope for billions of us."

"The main hindrance to worker control, to real socialism, is the world domination by capitalism and imperialism. The fact that the United States lays but 150 kilometers away is the greatest hindrance. I believe, however, that if the Cuban leadership had had more trust in the working class back in the mid-60s, once US military attacks were turned back and the internal counter-revolution defeated, it would have gradually turned over to the workers significant say in productive relations and in making local and national policies."

The book costs £8, around 12 euro, $15 US or $20 Australian. In around a month it will be available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. However, you can help us by buying it directly from us using the button at http://resistancebooks.blogspot.com/, where the £8 price also includes worldwide airmail delivery.

First of our Dutch resellers

Celia's book is now available from Grenzeloos, the newspaper of the Dutch SAP.

The book can be ordered for 14 euro through the Giro banking system (5543271 tnv SAP te Rotterdam). Mark your payment "materiaal", and use the book code: P26.

Other friends of ours are also struggling, against every obstacle the British banking system can invent, to open up wider distribution in The Netherlands.

Buy Celia's book now, using the button below

Distribution coming in Netherlands and Australia

We've had more good news today from friends on other countries who want to help Celia's book get wider distribution.

From Amsterdam, José has written to order a bundle of books, adding that two bookshops there have agreed to take the book. We'll add their details when the books are on the shelves.

In Sydney, we've had news today that our namesake, Resistance Books, will also be taking some copies of the book. We distribute quite a few of their affordable Marxist books and pamphlets here in Britain, and it's great to have their support in bringing Celia's ideas to a wider audience.

If you're in Britain and want to get hold of any of their books, let us know. We can keep down your postage costs, and allow you to pay in pounds. I am an especially big fan of their 'Resistance Marxist Library' and their books on Cuba (£6), the environment (£9) and on Marxist economics (£3).

Amazon.co.uk sells our book

Celia Hart's book is now available at www.Amazon.co.uk. The link here - http://tinyurl.com/j5w3q - should take you to the page where you can buy it. The good news is that you can buy from that British website no matter where you are.

However, the book is only at amazon.co.uk. It is not at their US, French or German websites, not yet anyway.

Our other distributors do not advertise our book on their websites right now. However, they all have copies of the book and will be very happy to sell it to you. You can write to them or telephone them to get your copy. It just takes them a little time to post the details of the book. Our French distributor might never list the book since they sell very few books in English.

Booksellers retail our book in the US and France

Friends in the US and France have publicised our book on leading Cuba solidarity information lists over the last week. As a result, we now have booksellers in both countries who are able to supply the book by mail order. It costs $15 or €12, plus shipping.

From the US, you can order the book from:
Alex Chis Books
P.O. Box 2944
Fremont, CA 94536-0944
Phone: 510-489-8554
Email: achis at igc dot org
http://www.tomfolio.com/mall/AlexChis/
http://www.abebooks.com/home/AlexChis/
Alex Chis Books is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Alex will be on vacation next week, so he won't be advertising the book on his site until he gets back; however, you can email him orders,

From France, the book is available through:
Librairie La Brèche,
27, rue Taine, 75012 Paris
Phone: 01 49 28 52 44
Email: librairielabreche at tiscali dot fr
http://www.la-breche.com
Having a French distributor is especially useful; a reader in Marsailles write to us to explain the the paypal.com system did not accept as valid his email address which, of course, ends .fr rather than .com.

Second printing for Celia's book

The response to Celia Hart's book has been so positive that only six copies remain from the first printing.

The second printing will arrive on Monday next week, in time for copies to be taken to the International Revolutionary Youth Camp.

We're making two slight changes to the second printing. In the first printing, citations of Leon Trotsky were translated from the Spanish; in the second printing we have checked these against the translations from the most commonly used English editions of Trotsky's works (It doesn't make a substantial difference, but it makes it easier for people wanting to consult the full texts). We have also increased the type size a little in the second printing: there's a growing fashion for larger type in books, especially in the US, and we want to reduce the barriers that might exist to win wider distribution.

With the second printing, we will also be asking bookshops and distributors to handle the book. We'd appreciate your help on that point: if you can recommend distributors or bookshops in your country or city, then we will follow up with them. Just drop us an email at [resistance at sent dot com].

Truth, Love and Appetite

Last week we shipped off copies of Celia Hart's book to leading academic, and activist, libraries in Britain, Cuba, Ireland and The Netherlands. We're also starting to get powerful feedback from readers who took us up on our pre-publication offers. In particular, comments come under three forms: about truth, love and appetite.

1. Truth is an important aspect of this book. Of course, Celia speaks for herself when she discusses the challenges facing revolutionaries around the world. However, her book is a partial antidote to a lot of the misunderstandings, confusion and propaganda being spread by both the enemies of the Cuban revolution and some of its more critical friends. This book allows a Cuban revolutionary to speak in her own words to an English-speaking audience. That's a powerful contribution for Socialist Resistance to make to the left and that approach is reflected also by our recent dayschool, which allowed comrades from Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela to speak in their own words.
2. Love was also a parent of this book. The care and thoughtfulness put into the translations and design of this book is all the more important because that work is done by volunteers. The translations were done by friends at CubaNews, and checked and reworked by comrades of Socialist Resistance here in Britain and the US. The design and the wonderful cover image of a Cuban flag flying against a blue sky really mark it out as a book that is a real pleasure to read.
   
3. Appettite is also important. Socialist Resistance is produced by a pretty small network of people. It's important, I think, that this is our first book. It says something about priorities. It's a major investment, and we've put in the effort needed to get this book the access it needs. We've produced this book in the Demy Octavo format most widely used by bookshops around the work, rather than the A5 format most commonly used by European socialist books. It's printed on classy cream-coloured paper, which so many mainstream publishers use now, and which makes the book easy and soothing to read. We've also made it available to booksellers around the world through Ingram's book wholesaling system.
   

There are three ways to get the book.

• 1] Use www.paypal.com to send a payment for 8 pounds [that is around 15 US dollars] to resistance at sent dot com. Send an email to that address as well to give your mailing address. The price includes international airmail.
• 2] Send an international money order, or a UK bank cheque, made payable to 'Resistance' for 8 pounds to PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU, Britain. The price includes international airmail.
• 3] Bookshops and libraries can get the book from Ingram, the world's largest wholesale book distributor. You'll need the ISBN number: 978-0-902869-99-8.

Resistance is making the book available at cost to groups and booksellers ordering more than five copies. Six copies cost 30 pounds rather than 46 pounds, also including airmail shipping to a single address. Each extra copy added to the bundle is 5 pounds.

No need to scribble down our contact details

From next month Resistance Books will be able to supply supporters with 'business cards'. These are useful for passing out contact details on to people who we meet at our bookstalls. It's especially good to give people the web addresses for our free monthly email update, and for our website.

Click on the picture of the card to see a larger image.

To get your cards, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Resistance Books, PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU. As well as your envelope, include one loose first class stamp for each packet of 25 cards.

If you want to order 250 cards then you can select your own text; for example you could add a local contact number and email address. Send us your own text, plus a cheque for £3.50 payable to Resistance.

Please allow up to 28 days for delivery.

Book arrives soon; please pre-buy!

Our printers have just confirmed that Celia Hart's book will soon arrive from the printers. The cover photo, used with the generous permission of Michael Hopwood, makes the proof copy look fantastic. We can't wait to see the 'real' book.

However, the publication of the book involves a real investment, both politically and financially, and we are keen to get the book into people's hands as quickly as possible.

A large part of the first batch will be going abroad, including copies for the José Martí National Library of Cuba, to our friends at CubaNews, for the offices of the Communist Party of Cuba's central committee and for the International Institute for Research and Education.

Copies of the books are also being donated to the major reference libraries in Britain and Ireland: the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge; the National Library of Scotland; the Library of Trinity College, Dublin; the National Library of Wales and the British Library.

Of course, copies will also be sent to radical bookshops and major distributors.

However, all of this means that little revenue is generated by the first batch of books -- especially since the major book distributors take most of the cover price for themselves.

At the dayschool on June 24th, readers will have the opportunity to buy the book at a hefty prepublication discount. We recommend that everyone take us up on the offer, not the least so we can afford to rapidly shift out the whole batch of books.

P.S. The book finally arrived on 14th July. It looks great, and most of the first printing has alread been shipped out, so send in your order soon to get your copy!

It's never too late to love or rebel

Socialist Resistance is publishing its first book. "It's never too late to love or rebel" is a collection of articles, interviews and papers by Celia Hart, a member of the Cuban Communist party. Walter Lippmann has selected and edited the documents in the book.

Walter is the editor of CubaNews, which has a leading role in translating and distributing Celia's articles into English. His collection contains Celia's best-known articles written since 2003. It contains a number of recent articles that are not included in Apuntes revolucionarios, a Spanish collection published last year, including an interview with International Viewpoint. It is one of these articles which provides the title of the book.

The book returns from the printers in the next few weeks, but we are hoping to be able to show a proof copy of the book to Celia and other attendees at the Socialist Resistance dayschool on Saturday.

Unusually for a left-wing book, It's never too late... is aimed at wide distribution. It has an attractive full-colour cover and will be printed professionally in the Demy octavo format which is most widely used by modern publishers. It will be available though both online booksellers, from Socialist Resistance and to booksellers through Ingram's global book distribution network.

To order your copy post-free, please send a cheque or international money order for £8, made payable to Resistance, to PO Box 1009, London N4 2UU.