Jake Fremantle assesses how Monumental Lives offers what initially appears to be a promising Marxist analysis of the ‘culture wars’ and its recent preoccupation with the toppling of statues, but how this is increasingly limited by Bevan’s tendency towards an idealistic veneration of ‘authenticity’ which strays into a conservative position against what it terms an over-enthusiastic left ‘identity politics’.

Monumental Lies: Culture Wars and the Truth about the Past
Robert Bevan
Verso Books, 2022
9781839761874

Cardew’s intention was the ‘socialisation’ of music. Reading his graphic scores is not like reading traditional Western notation, where there is usually a single correct reading of a note or other feature. But his involvement with anti-fascism, Irish solidarity, and advocacy of Marxist-Leninism, led to suggestions that his death was politically motivated rather than accidental.