Acknowledgements

I am greatly indebted to the many people who shared with me their recollections of left-wing politics and culture in the 1930s and 1940s, and those who made available papers and photographs. I would especially like to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance and generosity of the late Winston Rhodes. Bert Roth has also been extremely generous in sharing his knowledge and personal archive of left and labour history. This book began as an MA thesis completed in the History Department of Victoria University of Wellington in 1987. I would like to thank Jock Phillips, my supervisor, for his encouragement and guidance. A six-month Fellowship at the Historical Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs enabled me to undertake additional research and revise the manuscript. The publication of this book has also been assisted by a Historical Branch publications grant to Victoria University Press. I would like to thank Fergus Barrowman for commenting on and proofreading the drafts of my thesis and for his editorial advice on revising it. Thanks are also due to Stephen Danby who shared the task of proofreading the thesis, Geoff Short who did research for me in Hamilton, Alison Southby at Victoria University Press who copy-edited the manuscript, and Jane Hurley who did the final proofreading. I am also grateful for the support of Bill Oliver and Claudia Orange and other staff at the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Finally, thanks to my family and friends, especially Hugh, for their support and patience.