By Sam Gordon
November 2, 2019 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — In October 1936, events occurred in the East End of London that captured the attention of Left political activists for a generation.
World War I had laid waste to much of the industrial world and rejigged the colonial boundaries of Africa and the Middle East. The cold fog of the 1930s Great Depression had reinforced the Dickensian perception to east London. It was a place full of foreigners and poverty. It was seen by many as a place to be avoided.