Led by Donkeys

by Led By Donkeys

Led by Donkeys anglais ABISBOOK THAMES HUDSON.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Politics

Hardcover

Published September 12, 2024

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Led by Donkeys are an English activist group whose name references the phrase 'lions led by donkeys', popularly applied to the British army during the First World War. (Which seems a bit unfair to donkeys, as they're lovely creatures.) Anyway, this group specialise in highly visible public actions that bring attention to government corruption or malfeasance. Somewhat oddly, here is a swish hardback coffee table book documenting their greatest hits from 2019 to 2024. It includes the background to each action and photographs of the result. Most of these I was already aware of, but some were new to me.

My favourite at the time it happened was the blue plaque on 55 Tufton Street saying, 'The UK economy was crashed here'. That address houses a think tank which came up with the batshit economic policies that Liz Truss announced in a 'mini-budget' on 23rd September 2022, with disastrous results. Truss consequently became the shortest-serving Prime Minister in British history, managing only 50 days. And for the first few weeks of that time she couldn't announce anything because of the Queen's death. I remember getting a good laugh from that plaque while enraged by the sheer incompetence of the government.

The initial pages of the book reminded me of the dark days when Boris Johnson was PM. What a fucking nightmare that man was. Among Led By Donkeys' other great ideas are the National Covid Memorial Wall and embarrassing Brexiteers with their own obvious lies about leaving the EU using billboards and ad vans. I hadn't previously heard of one of the most recent actions described towards the end of the book: lining up 20,000 childrens outfits on a Dorset beach to convey how many children had been killed in Gaza. A neat way of making an unimaginably terrible number visible and visceral. It must have been really moving to walk the more than 6 kilometres of lost lives.

The subtitle, 'Adventures in Art, Activism, and Accountability' made me think about the difficulty of capturing popular attention with political activism in this time of algorithmic bubbles and automated misinformation. I applaud Led by Donkeys' attempts to creatively reach people with facts and was amused by the praise quoted on the back cover, e.g. 'There to embarrass us' from former chancellor for 38 days Kwasi Kwarteng.

[Jonathan Tabreham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb reminder of what a shit show the tories were and all the injustices that are still going on today 👏

[Matt Christiansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

These guys are my absolute heroes

[Kosti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pics and awesome activism.

[Michael Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Just excellent.

[GM · Rating 3 out of 5]

easily digestible; exposes the corruption and conflicts of interest. really surprised that anyone can still trust or listen to Nigel Farage. Also provides interesting details on the logistics of setting up these mass campaigns.

the blue ink on black background is an odd choice.

[Stan Bland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this pictorial update following reading the earlier book re their campaigns. The guys show immense talent and courage in what they have been doing. Chapeau; keep shining the light.