Gordon Childe —————,

HE TRAGIC DEATH of Professor V. Gordon Childe as a result of a mountaineering accident in Australia is a grave loss to progressive scholarship. His more popular books, such as ‘Man Makes Himself and “What Happened in History’, written from a strictly materialist standpoint, contained amazingly vivid and convincing accounts of the earliest human communities. the origin of food-production, of the class struggle and of city civilization.

These works of Childe are masterly examples of books which bring equal profit to the scholar and the layman. One reason for his brilliant successes was his acceptance of the Marxist method of studying True. his work did not everywhere show a full understanding of Marx’s thought. but anyone who doubts that he made a whole-hearted attempt to use Marxism, and to use it creatively (and not as a religious dogma). should read his little book called ‘History’, vol. 6 in the series Past and Present (1947), an excellent account of the value of Marxism to the historian.

* An important feature of his more technical bocks and articles was the fact that, almost alone of British prehistorians. he kept abreast of the archaeological work carried on in Russia and eastern Europe: in his approach to this work he was far from being uncritical.

His books were translated into many languages. and tens of thousands of people. who learned from them about early Man and the origin of civilization, will be shocked at the news of his death.

He was aged 65, and since his retirement last year from London University. he had been living in Austrlia. where he was born.

Professor E. A, Thompson (Nottingham University} Lord Pakenham, in a very revealing article (The Observer, October 6) shows that the Right wing realize very well the significance of this conference. The nationalization vote represents, says our Labour Lord, the death of an idea.

Quite explicitly he says that this is not a personal opinion only but is shared by most of those whose opinion he values: as Pakenham was a Labour Minister, we can guess whom he means.

Most important however are his conclusions from the conference; at least, he says, Labour’s hands are untied, and the Labour Party can now think for itself.

This then is the magnitude of the victory of the Right: they now feel free to use Labour’s name to function as a purely respectable political party. Let us make it perfectly plain to them that we now feel free to proceed without their weight on our backs.

The following letter was sent to the Daily Worker on After reading the profile of Nazim Hikmet and the short poem by him in today’s Daily Worker. many readers will doubtless wish to learn more about him and read more of his work.

The current issue of The New Reasoner carries a synopsis of a remarkable satirical play from his pen, with one complete scene translated, preceded by a biographical note on the author.

London. N.12 Brian Pearce [The reference is to Hikmet’s play “Did Ivan Ivanovich Exist?’, a satire on the Stalinist bureaucracy, which was published in Moscow shortly after the Twentieth Congress and subsequently suppressed. The autumn issue of The New Si prints a scene from this play entitled ‘The Swimming ool’, Published by Peter Fryer, 180. Clapham High St.. London, S.W.4.