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Protest: Stories of Resistance
Whatever happened to British protest?
For a state that brought the world Chartism, the Suffragettes, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and so many other grassroots social movements, Britain rarely celebrates its long, great tradition of people power. In this timely and evocative collection, twenty authors have assembled to re-imagine key moments of British protest, from the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. Written in close consultation with historians, sociologists and eyewitnesses – who also contribute afterwords – these stories follow fictional characters caught up in real-life struggles, offering a streetlevel perspective on the noble art of resistance. In the age of fake news and post-truth politics this book fights fiction with (well researched, historically accurate) fiction.
Featuring: Sara Maitland and Prof. Jane Whittle on THE PEASANT'S REVOLT
Holly Pester and Dr. Steve Hindle on THE MIDLANDS RISING
Matthew Holness and Dr. John Rees and Prof. Mark Stoyle on THE DIGGERS
Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Dr. Ariel Hessayon on VENNER'S RISING
Andy Hedgecock and Dr. Kartina Navickas on THE PENTRICH LUDDITES
Laura Hird and Dr. Gordon Pentland on the RADICAL WAR
Michelle Green and Elizabeth Crawford on THE SUFFRAGETTES
Sandra Alland and Dr Francis Salt on the NATIONAL BLIND MARCH
Stuart Evers and Dr Michael Randle on the ALDERMASTON MARCHES
Kit de Waal and Avtar Jouhl on MALCOLM X in SMETHWICK
Alexei Sayle and Rusell Hickman on the ANTI-VIETNAM WAR DEMO
David and Stephen Constantine on the ANTI-RIVERS OF BLOOD MARCH
Maggie Gee and Prof Sally Alexander on the NIGHT CLEANERS' STRIIKE
Francesca Rhydderch and Ned Thomas on the WELSH LANGUAGE PROTESTS
Jacob Ross and Prof. Stephen Reicher on the NEW CROSS FIRE & THE BRIXTON RIOTS
Joanna Quinn and Lyn Barlow on GREENHAM COMMON
Martyn Bedford and Prof. David Waddington on the BATTLE OF ORGREAVE
Juliet Jacques and Dr. Em Temple-Malt on SECTION 28
Courttia Newland and Dr. John Drury on the POLL TAX RIOT
Kate Clanchy and Prof. Laleh Khalili on the ANTI-IRAQ WAR DEMO
This project has been supported by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust and the Lipman-Miliband Trust, as well as Arts Council England.
For a state that brought the world Chartism, the Suffragettes, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and so many other grassroots social movements, Britain rarely celebrates its long, great tradition of people power. In this timely and evocative collection, twenty authors have assembled to re-imagine key moments of British protest, from the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. Written in close consultation with historians, sociologists and eyewitnesses – who also contribute afterwords – these stories follow fictional characters caught up in real-life struggles, offering a streetlevel perspective on the noble art of resistance. In the age of fake news and post-truth politics this book fights fiction with (well researched, historically accurate) fiction.
Featuring: Sara Maitland and Prof. Jane Whittle on THE PEASANT'S REVOLT
Holly Pester and Dr. Steve Hindle on THE MIDLANDS RISING
Matthew Holness and Dr. John Rees and Prof. Mark Stoyle on THE DIGGERS
Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Dr. Ariel Hessayon on VENNER'S RISING
Andy Hedgecock and Dr. Kartina Navickas on THE PENTRICH LUDDITES
Laura Hird and Dr. Gordon Pentland on the RADICAL WAR
Michelle Green and Elizabeth Crawford on THE SUFFRAGETTES
Sandra Alland and Dr Francis Salt on the NATIONAL BLIND MARCH
Stuart Evers and Dr Michael Randle on the ALDERMASTON MARCHES
Kit de Waal and Avtar Jouhl on MALCOLM X in SMETHWICK
Alexei Sayle and Rusell Hickman on the ANTI-VIETNAM WAR DEMO
David and Stephen Constantine on the ANTI-RIVERS OF BLOOD MARCH
Maggie Gee and Prof Sally Alexander on the NIGHT CLEANERS' STRIIKE
Francesca Rhydderch and Ned Thomas on the WELSH LANGUAGE PROTESTS
Jacob Ross and Prof. Stephen Reicher on the NEW CROSS FIRE & THE BRIXTON RIOTS
Joanna Quinn and Lyn Barlow on GREENHAM COMMON
Martyn Bedford and Prof. David Waddington on the BATTLE OF ORGREAVE
Juliet Jacques and Dr. Em Temple-Malt on SECTION 28
Courttia Newland and Dr. John Drury on the POLL TAX RIOT
Kate Clanchy and Prof. Laleh Khalili on the ANTI-IRAQ WAR DEMO
This project has been supported by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust and the Lipman-Miliband Trust, as well as Arts Council England.
464 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 21, 2021
Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in left of centre politics, history and a love of fiction. A nice collection of short stories offering a street-level perspective on key protests in British history, each followed by a historial note and suggested further reading. I definitely learnt a lot and some of the stories were deeply moving. If I could, I would give 6 stars to "Withen" by Martyn Bedford which focused on the Battle of Orgreave and the miners' strike in 1984. I also enjoyed The Turd Tree by Kate Clanchy, on the Anti-Iraq War Demo in 2003, and May Hobbs by Maggie Gee, referencing the Night Cleaners' Strike in 1971-2
November 1, 2019
This book reviews twenty moments of public protest in England from the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 to the mass marches in 2003 against the proposed illegal invasion of Iraq. For each example it couples a piece of creative writing alongside a short analysis of the occasion. This combination is decidedly weird, the creative writing being of a very fine standard and nevertheless almost disturbingly tangential, the analysis interesting enough but disjointed.
It is not unusual for protestors or their advocates to claim a direct affinity with the Peasants' of 1381, the Levellers, the Diggers, the Luddites, sharing with them the thread of common people asserting their claims against authority. This form of archaism is healthy enough when it lends courage and optimism to those battling against the odds.
More practical are the discussions of relatively recent protests, reminding me of my own slow political education from the early 1970s, and offering real insights. In discussing the Poll Tax riots there is a revealing explanation of the difference between conventional assumptions regarding behaviour in crowds and the reality of social dynamics in this environment. In respect of the infamous police riot at Orgreave Colliery it is observed that the spread of citizen journalism using smartphone cameras and the internet would hopefully prevent such behaviour by the police in future or at least expose the truth and call them to account. Greenham Common is identified as the source and initial testing ground for a great many techniques of protest which were deployed in all sorts of subsequent protests, including other countries.
I was most struck by a revealing account of feminist activism in 1970s London. The commitment at that time to radical action to challenge and change the social circumstances of most women, ranging from hostels for battered women to trades unions for nighttime office cleaners, contrasts sharply with current identity politics centred on a salacious sexuality and the career priorities of a small and affluent elite, drained of all serious social or economic analysis, while women's refuge hostels have closed under austerity and rights at work have been savaged. Being lectured today by so called third wave feminists is just tiresome.
It is not unusual for protestors or their advocates to claim a direct affinity with the Peasants' of 1381, the Levellers, the Diggers, the Luddites, sharing with them the thread of common people asserting their claims against authority. This form of archaism is healthy enough when it lends courage and optimism to those battling against the odds.
More practical are the discussions of relatively recent protests, reminding me of my own slow political education from the early 1970s, and offering real insights. In discussing the Poll Tax riots there is a revealing explanation of the difference between conventional assumptions regarding behaviour in crowds and the reality of social dynamics in this environment. In respect of the infamous police riot at Orgreave Colliery it is observed that the spread of citizen journalism using smartphone cameras and the internet would hopefully prevent such behaviour by the police in future or at least expose the truth and call them to account. Greenham Common is identified as the source and initial testing ground for a great many techniques of protest which were deployed in all sorts of subsequent protests, including other countries.
I was most struck by a revealing account of feminist activism in 1970s London. The commitment at that time to radical action to challenge and change the social circumstances of most women, ranging from hostels for battered women to trades unions for nighttime office cleaners, contrasts sharply with current identity politics centred on a salacious sexuality and the career priorities of a small and affluent elite, drained of all serious social or economic analysis, while women's refuge hostels have closed under austerity and rights at work have been savaged. Being lectured today by so called third wave feminists is just tiresome.
January 13, 2020
Commissioned at a relatively quiet time in British politics, this anthology of twenty short stories served as a welcome antidote to the dispiriting rise of right-wing populism when it was first published in the age of Trump and Brexit in the summer of 2017. Reading it less than a month after the Left’s devastation in the December 2019 general election, it feels even more vital to be reminded of how, over six centuries, ordinary people have fought against the Right for what was right. At least that’s my excuse for leaving my review copy, generously supplied by Comma Press, sitting on the shelf for two years.
As with our weekly flash fiction challenges, it’s interesting to see how different writers respond to a particular prompt. Each was asked to fictionalise a well-known or lesser-known episode, ranging from the peasants’ revolt of 1381 to the 2003 demonstration against the war with Iraq, working in consultation with an academic or eyewitness consultant to avoid straying from the facts. With each story followed by an afterword from the associated expert, the collection affords a rare insight into the relative merits of fiction and non-fiction.
While I appreciated the latter for filling some of the gaps in my knowledge, and was interested in the pieces on crowd psychology, my allegiance lies with the story. I welcome the opportunity for historical and political education, but my heart is with the characters and their emotional journeys. A few stories, I felt, overdid the context, rendering the commentary almost redundant, while a few were so subtle, or tricksy in their structure, I dashed to the non-fiction essay to process what I’d read.
I also found a couple of stories too heavy in signposting the relevance of historical events to the 21st-century, hardly necessary when that’s the premise of the whole book. Yet one of my favourite stories – “Withen” by Martyn Bedford – connects the Battle of Orgreave during the miners’ strike with a middle-aged man attending his father’s funeral thirty years later to great effect. This story’s surprise ending speaks volumes about the painful legacy of those years.
My two other favourite stories both showcase a relationship in crisis as a couple take part in a protest march about which one partner is decidedly ambivalent. Stuart Evers takes a risk that pays dividends in “The Blind Light” by presenting the Aldermaston marches (against nuclear weapons) from the point of view of a curmudgeonly and cowardly character, who nevertheless earns our sympathy. But the final story, “The Turd Tree” by Kate Clanchy, has to be the best of the lot, with the personal reverberations of an unanticipated ending perfectly echoing the political aftermath.
Other highlights include “Kick-Start” by Sandra Alland for opening my eyes (pun intended) to the infantilisation and exploitation of people with sight loss in 1920; “There Are Five Ways Out Of This Room” by Michelle Green for the visceral description of the force-feeding of suffragettes (as well as a fabulous title); and “Exterior Paint” by Kit de Waal in which a Caribbean immigrant finds the courage to fight for his white girlfriend from a surprise appearance of Malcom X. If you’re left-leaning, and look to literature to both educate and entertain this is for you.
As with our weekly flash fiction challenges, it’s interesting to see how different writers respond to a particular prompt. Each was asked to fictionalise a well-known or lesser-known episode, ranging from the peasants’ revolt of 1381 to the 2003 demonstration against the war with Iraq, working in consultation with an academic or eyewitness consultant to avoid straying from the facts. With each story followed by an afterword from the associated expert, the collection affords a rare insight into the relative merits of fiction and non-fiction.
While I appreciated the latter for filling some of the gaps in my knowledge, and was interested in the pieces on crowd psychology, my allegiance lies with the story. I welcome the opportunity for historical and political education, but my heart is with the characters and their emotional journeys. A few stories, I felt, overdid the context, rendering the commentary almost redundant, while a few were so subtle, or tricksy in their structure, I dashed to the non-fiction essay to process what I’d read.
I also found a couple of stories too heavy in signposting the relevance of historical events to the 21st-century, hardly necessary when that’s the premise of the whole book. Yet one of my favourite stories – “Withen” by Martyn Bedford – connects the Battle of Orgreave during the miners’ strike with a middle-aged man attending his father’s funeral thirty years later to great effect. This story’s surprise ending speaks volumes about the painful legacy of those years.
My two other favourite stories both showcase a relationship in crisis as a couple take part in a protest march about which one partner is decidedly ambivalent. Stuart Evers takes a risk that pays dividends in “The Blind Light” by presenting the Aldermaston marches (against nuclear weapons) from the point of view of a curmudgeonly and cowardly character, who nevertheless earns our sympathy. But the final story, “The Turd Tree” by Kate Clanchy, has to be the best of the lot, with the personal reverberations of an unanticipated ending perfectly echoing the political aftermath.
Other highlights include “Kick-Start” by Sandra Alland for opening my eyes (pun intended) to the infantilisation and exploitation of people with sight loss in 1920; “There Are Five Ways Out Of This Room” by Michelle Green for the visceral description of the force-feeding of suffragettes (as well as a fabulous title); and “Exterior Paint” by Kit de Waal in which a Caribbean immigrant finds the courage to fight for his white girlfriend from a surprise appearance of Malcom X. If you’re left-leaning, and look to literature to both educate and entertain this is for you.
February 2, 2018
This is a fascinating experiment in collaborative writing which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys short stories, genre-bending, creative non-fiction (although the stories are fictional, see below) or who has a passing interest in the history of protest in this country.
I fell in love with this book from the premise. Each story is a collaboration between a historian specialising in the period, the protest, or the lead actors, and an established short story writer. Each story brings the events to life, humanising the dry facts and giving them perspecive and a sense of subjectivity. This is then followed by a response from the historian, and a summary of the facts as known to contemporary research.
I would definitely like to read more colaborations like this.
I fell in love with this book from the premise. Each story is a collaboration between a historian specialising in the period, the protest, or the lead actors, and an established short story writer. Each story brings the events to life, humanising the dry facts and giving them perspecive and a sense of subjectivity. This is then followed by a response from the historian, and a summary of the facts as known to contemporary research.
I would definitely like to read more colaborations like this.
November 27, 2022
It's a collection of stories built around some of the biggest public protests, supposedly around the globe, but concentrated mostly in / around US/UK.
More than the stories, I liked the descriptions provided at the end of each chapter. These descriptions, I felt, should have been placed before the chapters, so the reader could better understand the background and the setting off these stories.
While a couple stories were appealing, most were just average.
More than the stories, I liked the descriptions provided at the end of each chapter. These descriptions, I felt, should have been placed before the chapters, so the reader could better understand the background and the setting off these stories.
While a couple stories were appealing, most were just average.
December 21, 2017
Protest! Stories of Resistance is an illuminating and essential read. The perfect inter-generational birthday or Christmas present, it joins up the dots and gives context, which is invariably missing from disdainful, market-led Media narratives, and rote-learning history ordained by successive governments.
Reviewed on The BookBlast® Diary 2017
Reviewed on The BookBlast® Diary 2017
March 30, 2019
This varied collection puts the humanity into history; bringing pivotal points in the national story to life through immediate and personal (& imagined) retellings.
Extremely relevant for contemporary times and turmoil, too.
Extremely relevant for contemporary times and turmoil, too.
December 7, 2018
The stories are uneven in quality and would probably be 3.5* on their own, but the concept is fantastic and the explanation chapters opened my eyes to many situations I hadn't even heard of.
April 9, 2020
Some of the stories are interesting , some just plain boring.Biggest gripe is the layout of the book , I started to read the historical note first , it gave you some understanding of the story .
April 2, 2025
I don’t like it
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews