ABSTRACT
“Fabian Essays,” the work of seven writers, all of them far above the average in ability, some of them possessing individuality recognised as exceptional, is a book and not a collection of essays. The high literary level maintained by the Fabian tracts is largely the result of constant scrutiny and amendment, chiefly by Sidney Webb and Bernard Shaw, although the tract so corrected may be published as the work of some other member. The effect of “Fabian Essays” arose as much from what it left out as from what it contained. Only the fast-dwindling band of pioneer Socialists, who lived through the movement in its earliest days, can fully realise the environment of ideas from which “Fabian Essays” showed a way of escape. “Fabian Essays” presented the case for Socialism in plain language which everybody could understand. The Fabian Society and British Socialism owe much to Mrs. Besant for the assistance she gave it during five important years.
