Riot!: Civil Insurrection from Peterloo to the Present Day

by Ian Hernon

'A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.' --Martin Luther King Riot! covers, with a reporter's eye, almost 200 years of civil disturbance on mainland Britain, and gives a voice to some of the remarkable men and women involved. Ian Hernon shows that resistance played a part, not always beneficially, in the creation of proper parliamentary democracy, the welfare state, the trade union movement, the rights of immigrants and civil liberties. All of these, it can be argued, are under renewed attack today. Hernon tells the story of a largely unacknowledged tradition of violent protest in Britain, from the martyrs of Peterloo to the drug-fuelled street violence of today. Riot! charts how the struggles of individual groups of workers turned into a broader campaign for electoral reform and justice; how excessive use of state force failed to extinguish the fires; how the trade unions pressed for wider social justice; how Thatcherism reversed decades of gradual reform and sparked social turmoil; and how a "good" riot played a part in her downfall. Finishing with an account of the anti-globalisation movement and G8 protests, this lively book shows how the ugly roar of a mob has perhaps done more to change society than measured parliamentary debate.

Genres: History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

A print journalist since 1969 and a lobby correspondent in the Commons since 1978. Ian Hernon covered the Troubles in Northern Ireland and more mayhem in the Middle East. He ran the oldest Parliamentary news agency (now defunct) for 15 years. For the last five years he has been deputy editor of Tribune. He is the author of a dozen books including the best-selling Britain's Forgotten Wars.

Reviews

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and interesting history of riots and rioting in Britain, it’s clear that the country has witnessed more riots than we perhaps think.

[Chakib Miraoui · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very heavy on workers pickets from two centuries ago to coal miners strikes of the eighties, the narrative in the second part of the book unfortunately dwindles to liberal mob agenda of race and anti-war pacifism, thereby ruining the credibility of all the efforts put into research.