Books, Works & Articles

In this short biography / collection of reminiscences Dhondy draws on his friendship with CLR James, which began when James was already an old man and continued until his death at the age of 89. He assesses the contribution James made to modern political thinking and to the growth of Black consciousness. He celebrates his love of cricket and shows how the concepts of fair play and gamesmanship could and did become the abiding principles of a Black colonial revolutionary.

From Kenan Malik’s review of the book: “Dhondy has little understanding of, and even less sympathy for, James’ Marxism. In his eyes, the thirties and forties are a blur of factionalism, splits and hopeless fantasies. Certainly, much of what James wrote in these years, in works such as World Revolution and Notes on Dialectics, reek of naivety and romantic illusions, and Dhondy’s disdain for James’ rhetoric might be the understandable view of a disillusioned radical looking back at the wreckage of twentieth century communism. Such disdain, however, does not make for illuminating biography.

“There is little sense in Dhondy’s account of the political and intellectual ferment of the 1930s and 40s that formed the backdrop to James’ work. If James’ belief that world revolution was imminent seems fantastic now it certainly would not have then. In a world torn apart by two world wars, Depression, mass unemployment, and fascism, even many intelligent conservatives were unwilling to bet on the survival of their system.”

“His writings on race and on black rebellion turned James into an icon of black radicalism and black nationalism; while in the seventies a new generation of ‘cultural studies’ academics embraced James’ cultural writings. How ironic that a man who insisted that ‘the origins of my work and thought are to be found in Western European literature, Western European history and Western European thought’ should become a hero to those whose vision of politics is to sweep away the legacy of dead white European males.”

From Matthew Engel’s review in the Guardian, 4 August 2001: “This biography is actually more of a memoir, with various riffs and diversions, some of which have more to do with Dhondy than James. The subject lodged with the author for a time, and there are some lovely personal touches, illustrating James’s ability to make connections: “The Civil Rights movement,” he once insisted in conversation, “began with nylon… the cotton economy was destroyed.” But it’s mighty hard to come to grips with such a diverse life, and Dhondy succeeds only in snatches.”

Buy the book here.