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Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death
Foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Chris Hedges
In the age of climate collapse, telling the truth has become a criminal act.
From a cell in Wayland Prison, Roger Hallam—farmer, researcher, and co-founder of Just Stop Oil—delivers a searing indictment of a legal system that punishes those who resist, while protecting those who destroy. In July 2024, Hallam was dragged from a British courtroom for refusing to stay silent about the climate crisis. For “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance,” he was sentenced to five years in prison—the harshest punishment for civil disobedience in the UK in modern British history. The case made front-page news and drew global outcry.
Suicide is part memoir, part political reckoning. Drawing on Hallam’s award-winning research and experience representing himself in four Crown Court trials, it lays bare the moral and legal failures of a society sleepwalking into catastrophe. From climate science and the right of necessity, to the collapse of democratic norms and the illusions of secular reason, this is a radical call to rethink justice, truth, and duty in the face of extinction.
“These protestors are not criminals—they are messengers.”
— Open Letter signed by 1,200+ public figures, incl. Rowan Williams, Brian Eno, Annie Lennox, Sir David King, Tilda Swinton & Philip Pullman
Praise of Roger’s Work
“ wise, profound and persuasive.” — George Monbiot
“An instruction manual for ripping through the corruption.” — Paul Mason
Co-authored by Extinction Rebellion Founders
In the age of climate collapse, telling the truth has become a criminal act.
From a cell in Wayland Prison, Roger Hallam—farmer, researcher, and co-founder of Just Stop Oil—delivers a searing indictment of a legal system that punishes those who resist, while protecting those who destroy. In July 2024, Hallam was dragged from a British courtroom for refusing to stay silent about the climate crisis. For “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance,” he was sentenced to five years in prison—the harshest punishment for civil disobedience in the UK in modern British history. The case made front-page news and drew global outcry.
Suicide is part memoir, part political reckoning. Drawing on Hallam’s award-winning research and experience representing himself in four Crown Court trials, it lays bare the moral and legal failures of a society sleepwalking into catastrophe. From climate science and the right of necessity, to the collapse of democratic norms and the illusions of secular reason, this is a radical call to rethink justice, truth, and duty in the face of extinction.
“These protestors are not criminals—they are messengers.”
— Open Letter signed by 1,200+ public figures, incl. Rowan Williams, Brian Eno, Annie Lennox, Sir David King, Tilda Swinton & Philip Pullman
Praise of Roger’s Work
“ wise, profound and persuasive.” — George Monbiot
“An instruction manual for ripping through the corruption.” — Paul Mason
Co-authored by Extinction Rebellion Founders
- GenresPolitics
194 pages, Paperback
Published January 28, 2026
3 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Roger Hallam
9 books18 followersRoger Hallam is one of the most influential and controversial campaigners of the 21st century.
He is a founder of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil, three of the most prominent social movements in recent UK history. Over the past decade, he has worked internationally as an advisor and organiser, helping to catalyse major climate campaigns across Europe, including in Italy, Germany, and Sweden.
Roger’s commitment to social justice spans decades. In his twenties, he dropped out of the London School of Economics to join the peace movement. He later spent 30 years as an organic farmer in Wales, until unprecedented rainfall destroyed over £100,000 worth of crops — a direct experience of climate breakdown that reshaped his political path.
Following this, Roger became a researcher at King’s College London, where he produced award-winning research on the psychology of mobilisation and the strategic design of civil disobedience. In 2018, he authored Common Sense for the 21st Century, selected as Tate Modern’s Book of the Month and widely credited as a foundational text for Extinction Rebellion.
In 2023, the New Statesman ranked Roger as the 34th most influential progressive in the UK — the highest-ranked environmentalist apart from David Attenborough. In 2024, he wrote the introduction to A Green Day: Embracing Climate Action (Hachette India).
Roger’s activism has brought intense legal and media scrutiny. In July 2024, he was sentenced to five years in prison for civil disobedience — the longest such sentence in the UK since the Second World War. His refusal in court to break his oath to tell the “whole truth” to a jury led to his forcible removal by police, an incident widely reported across the British press.
He has appeared on BBC News, BBC HardTalk, and GB News, and has been featured in multiple documentary films, including The Troublemaker and Conscientious Protectors. His writing has appeared across the political spectrum, from The Guardian to The Daily Mail, and he has been interviewed by The Times, The Economist, Republik, De Volkskrant, and Novara Media.
Roger continues to write and organise from prison and under house arrest.
You can read his work at https://rogerhallam.com
He is a founder of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil, three of the most prominent social movements in recent UK history. Over the past decade, he has worked internationally as an advisor and organiser, helping to catalyse major climate campaigns across Europe, including in Italy, Germany, and Sweden.
Roger’s commitment to social justice spans decades. In his twenties, he dropped out of the London School of Economics to join the peace movement. He later spent 30 years as an organic farmer in Wales, until unprecedented rainfall destroyed over £100,000 worth of crops — a direct experience of climate breakdown that reshaped his political path.
Following this, Roger became a researcher at King’s College London, where he produced award-winning research on the psychology of mobilisation and the strategic design of civil disobedience. In 2018, he authored Common Sense for the 21st Century, selected as Tate Modern’s Book of the Month and widely credited as a foundational text for Extinction Rebellion.
In 2023, the New Statesman ranked Roger as the 34th most influential progressive in the UK — the highest-ranked environmentalist apart from David Attenborough. In 2024, he wrote the introduction to A Green Day: Embracing Climate Action (Hachette India).
Roger’s activism has brought intense legal and media scrutiny. In July 2024, he was sentenced to five years in prison for civil disobedience — the longest such sentence in the UK since the Second World War. His refusal in court to break his oath to tell the “whole truth” to a jury led to his forcible removal by police, an incident widely reported across the British press.
He has appeared on BBC News, BBC HardTalk, and GB News, and has been featured in multiple documentary films, including The Troublemaker and Conscientious Protectors. His writing has appeared across the political spectrum, from The Guardian to The Daily Mail, and he has been interviewed by The Times, The Economist, Republik, De Volkskrant, and Novara Media.
Roger continues to write and organise from prison and under house arrest.
You can read his work at https://rogerhallam.com
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2026
Perhaps I was not the target audience?!
I purchased this book to support the Whole Truth Five and hoped that after reading it, I could share it with family/friends so they could understand why I call myself an environmental activist and maybe consider one day joining an action themselves. As Hallam says, "we are in total emergency," and I wanted to encourage others to see this.
Instead, I have just finished a book that fully rants and rambles without a clear line of argument or takeaway. Using examples of 1930s Nazi practices and separating conjoined twins too much, Roger's "rage and betrayal" with the British judicial system climaxes with an idea to get rid of the judge who ruled against them.
This reads more like a personal vendetta than a call to arms to stop the climate crisis from exacerbating due to human (in)action.
I purchased this book to support the Whole Truth Five and hoped that after reading it, I could share it with family/friends so they could understand why I call myself an environmental activist and maybe consider one day joining an action themselves. As Hallam says, "we are in total emergency," and I wanted to encourage others to see this.
Instead, I have just finished a book that fully rants and rambles without a clear line of argument or takeaway. Using examples of 1930s Nazi practices and separating conjoined twins too much, Roger's "rage and betrayal" with the British judicial system climaxes with an idea to get rid of the judge who ruled against them.
This reads more like a personal vendetta than a call to arms to stop the climate crisis from exacerbating due to human (in)action.
Displaying 1 of 1 review