The annual May Day speeches delivered by David North, between 2014 and 2024, are an extraordinary and timely year-by-year analysis of the relentless escalation of imperialist militarism and the growing danger of a nuclear third world war.
In light of the unfolding developments in Ukraine and Gaza, North’s analyses acquire an almost prophetic character. Other issues examined by North in his May Day speeches are the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resurgence of fascism, and the growth of the international class struggle.
As in his earlier books, Sounding the Alarm demonstrates David North’s remarkable ability to locate contemporary events in their broader historical context. As historian Tom Mackaman writes in the book’s preface: “This volume provides a powerful example of Marxism as the science and politics of revolutionary action, which requires careful study by every fighter for socialism.”
The first online celebration of May Day was held just months after the February 2014 Maidan coup, which brought to power a regime that put Ukraine under the direct control of US and German imperialism. Ten years ago, North warned that the plotters in Washington and Berlin understood the coup would lead to a confrontation with Russia, in pursuit of their far-reaching geopolitical interests.