Founded in 1936, Lawrence & Wishart initially became involved with the political and cultural life of the
popular front, publishing literature, drama and poetry, as well as political economy, working-class history and the classics of
Marxism. Book series published during the first decade included the Little Lenin Library and the Little Stalin Library. After the
Second World War, the company published work from the
CPGB's History Group, including early work by
Eric Hobsbawm. Later in the century, Lawrence & Wishart began its project of commissioning translations of selected writings by
Antonio Gramsci, whose work on the relationship between politics and culture has ongoing significance for the company. The first volume dedicated to Gramsci,
Selections from the Prison Notebooks, was published in 1971, and re-published in 2005. The mid-1980s saw the publication of works by writers who brought the insights of cultural studies to bear on more traditional political concerns with ideology, politics and power, a field of research that ultimately led to the range of journals that Lawrence & Wishart now publish. ==Lawrence & Wishart today==