C.L.R. James

[Mike Weaver]

>I recall having occasion to mention C.L.R. James
>(author of The Black Jacobins et al.) here before,
>wonder if anyone's much familiar with him ...

His Notes on Dialectics used to be one of my regular intellectual 
challenges. The original version was written to explain his split with 
Trotsky in 1938, using an examination of Hegel's writings to show that 
Stalin's ascendancy over Trotsky was because he had a grasp of the 
dialectic that Leon never had. I never found the mental energy to 
understand the whole book, but what I did take in had a profound effect on 
my political perspective.
There was a review in yesterday's Manchester Guardian of a new book on 
James - Cricket, the Caribbean and World Revolution. The reviewer's 
comments suggested that going to source would be more rewarding.

I've a good collection of essays on James:
C.L.R. James, His life and works. edited by Paul Buhle. Publ: Allison and 
Busby 1986

Cheers
Mike