Based on extensive use of primary evidence, this is the first study of interwar British communism to set the communist experience within the framework of the life cycle. Communism offered a complete identity that could reach into virtually all aspects of life; the Party sought influence even over members' personal conduct, moral codes, health and diet, personal hygiene, and aesthetic judgements.

The British Communist Party (CPGB) sought to address the communist experience through all of the principal phases of the life cycle, and its reach therefore extended to take in children, youth, and the various aspects of the adult experience, including marital and kinship relations. The book also considers the contention that the Communist Party functioned as a ‘political religion’ for some joiners who opted to enter the congregation of the communist devoted.

Preface and acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
PART I: The communist life cycle: the early years
1 In the home: communist mothercraft and child rearing
2 Into the Party structure: the communist children movement
3 A bright and purposeful life: youth and the Young Communist League
PART II: The communist life cycle: adulthood
4 A single communist personality?: communist couples and Red families
5 Being in a familiar place: the life of the adult activist
PART III: The communist life cycle: Shaping communists
6 Tending the communist body: the quest for physical fitness
7 Communist life style: fostering correct habits, good behaviour, and right ways of living
8 Communists at play
9 Culture from below: a culture for proletarians
PART IV: The communist life cycle: end of the cycle
10 In memoriam
Afterword
Select Bibliography
Index