This is a very useful bibliographical tool produced by the efforts of the International Association of Labour History Institutions (IALHI). This association comprises more than one hundred archives, libraries and research centers all over the world, though the vast majority are located in Europe, and not all of them have the same importance, reflecting the geographical and political unevenness of socialism's history. This particular volume aims to list all the publications of the social-democratic internationals after 1914, i.e. from the time of the political split due to the support for World War I by most social-democratic parties. This means that the left-wing, beginning with the Kienthal-Zimmerwald movement during the war and leading to the “Communist International” from 1919 on, is not represented here. But also left-wing splits from social democracy in later years, as in the 1930s with the “London Bureau” of left-wing socialist parties (and also the Bureau's predecessors) are excluded here, as they openly campaigned against social democracy. Also, a few international workers' institutions (mainly in the cultural field) that had been founded before 1914, but tried to maintain their independence after 1914 faced with the political split, are therefore not listed as well.

In this way, the Second International and its two followers after 1919 constitute the “axis” of this bibliography, the mainstream International led by the British Labour Party and the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschland (SPD) and the more left-wing branch of the International, the so-called Vienna Union, both branches reuniting in 1923 into the Labour and Socialist International (LSI). After the interruption of World War II, the LSI is now called the Socialist International. In addition, all the “auxiliary internationals” of the social-democratic family have been added: Those which comprised the organizations for youth, for women, for doctors and other professions, not forgetting the whole range of cultural and educational organizations tied to it. Finally, especially after World War II, a series of regional “sub-internationals” were organized and are duly represented here. All in all, thirty-nine internationals are listed here, of which twelve are still in existence.

The entries for each international are organized along the same scheme. First, the basic data such as year of foundation and dissolution, etc., are given, together with information about surviving archival records. This can also include personal collections, but, as can be expected, especially among the small prewar internationals, unfortunately nothing survives. This is followed by publications, mainly but not exclusively minutes and other documents of congresses and similar meetings, all arranged chronologically. But this section also contains publications by individual authors, as a rule by leading members of such an international. Though usually these can be regarded as official statements, sometimes they would also express minority positions.

The entries finish with the periodicals of a given international. For all these titles, the libraries have been mentioned where they may be consulted. An appendix lists material presented to these internationals by their member organizations, such as memoranda for congresses, etc. Finally, a list of the libraries with contact addresses rounds off this bibliography.

The bibliographical information is not limited to the original publications. Whenever there are reprints or microfilms, especially of the most important periodicals, their existence is mentioned, though no location beyond the IALHI libraries is given. But these can easily be tracked down in many general research libraries.

Even though this is essentially a tool for further research, two conclusions can nevertheless be drawn from simply browsing through its pages. First, social democracy still remains a mainly European undertaking, even though quite a few extensions into the “Third World” were attempted and many organizations joined, starting in the 1950s. But the organizational presence and force, not the least expressed in its leaders, is shown by the parties and their regroupments in the European Union (and its antecedents), while all the other regional organizations usually never showed much sign of life. Second, social democracy is now nearly exclusively a political manifestation, or limited to the presence of an “electoral machine” for professional politicians. The vast range of cultural internationals representing a social-democratic Lebenswelt has dried up since the 1950s, after a brief revival in the aftermath of World War II. This, of course, reflects the restructuring of the labor force, especially the decline of the industrial working class. While this has been the subject of many analytical works, even by consulting such a bibliography one gets an idea of the changes brought about in the nature of social democracy.

Obviously such a bibliography cannot be complete, though an enormous effort was made in its preparation. Certainly the publication of this bibliography will stimulate further searches among specialists in the field. Therefore, as a next step, a database will be developed to include all the additions. It will be made available on the website of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bonn, one of the biggest IALHI members (http://library.fes.de/library/english/si.html).

All in all, the compiler, Gerd Callesen of Copenhagen's labor history archive, and his many collaborators who have been given their due credit in his introduction (something frequently forgotten in such endeavors), must be thanked for such a useful work. In his introduction, Callesen also provides a brief explanation of the “methodology” for the preparation and the use of this bibliography, and he gives a quick rundown of the Socialist International's history.

I will end with a suggestion. The internationals under consideration here can essentially be defined as political and cultural ones. However, what is much less documented are the trade union internationals in their different forms: the international trade secretariats, based on the same profession, and above all the international of the national trade union federations (until World War II, the International Federation of Trade Unions and subsequently the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions). Perhaps the initiative of the IALHI to provide an essential bibliographical tool for researchers can be extended to this field?