An injury to all - New book on the 'unmaking of the working class'

Ewan Gibbs, the Glasgow-based historian who is author of Coal Country: The Meaning and Memory of Deindustrialization in Postwar Scotland will be known to many Democratic Left Scotland members. 

Ewan’s latest book An Injury to All is now available on pre-order. 

The British working class has been pushed to the margins of our society. The new book considers how this has happened and how a force that once influenced the direction of the country has become so peripheral. 

As the subtitle suggests, Ewan looks at what has been lost but uses first-hand accounts to indicate what remains of class-based activity today in spite of a landscape of deindustrialisation. 

Inequality and insecurity have been compounded over decades. This has led to a desperate contemporary reality. Yet there are signs of class re-emerging as part of the political debate. 

Those interested in this important book may wish to pre-order a copy: click through here.

Please also look out for a forthcoming review and other updates on this website.

Published 3 August 2026