"The power of property was brought into creation by the sword", so wrote Gerrard Winstanley (1609-1676) – Christian Communist, leader of the Diggers movement and bête noire of the landed aristocracy. Despite being one of the great English radicals, Winstanley remains unmentioned in today's lists of "great Britons". John Gurney reveals the hidden history of Winstanley and his movement. As part of the radical ferment which swept England at the time of the civil war, Winstanley led the Diggers in taking over land and running it as "a common treasury for all" – provoking violent opposition from landowners. Gurney also guides us through Winstanley's writings, which are among the most remarkable prose writings of his age. Gerrard Winstanley is a must read for students of English history and all those seeking to re-claim the commons today.

In the heady and exciting days of the English Revolution, the Diggers stand out for their radicalism, and their proposals to abolish money and private property, and to collectivize the land. Winstanley was an impassioned voice, arguing passionately against injustice and poverty with beguiling logic and a burning sense that society should be more egalitarian. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of political thought and theory. Winstanley stands in a long line of radical English thought which reaches back to Wat Tyler and the Peasants' Revolt and is seen today in the Occupy movement.

This fully annotated edition establishes Gerrard Winstanley (1609-76) as a leading English prose writer and the foremost radical thinker of 17th-century England. It makes a major contribution to scholarship on English Civil War politics, religion, and literary culture.

A selection from Winstanley's many published pamphlets on the behalf of the 'Diggers', led by Winstanley between 1649-50.