Spokesman Books

War Against War! found a spot among The Observer 's Books of the Year 2014.  Paul Mason, Economics Editor at Channel 4 News, recently reviewed it as part of a reflection on war journalism - w e are excited that he has now given it a further commendation in this feature. His comments on War Against War! , printed on Sunday 30th November, read as follows: 'My favourite book of 2014 is the newly reissued facsimile of War Against War! (Spokesman Books) by Ernst Friedrich; first published in 1924, it showed the shocking pictorial truth about the injuries and devastation of the first world war. It was great preparation for reporting on the Gaza conflict...' *** War Against War!  by Ernst Friedrich is available from Spokesman Books at: http://www.spokesmanbooks.com/acatalog/shop.html [scroll down]

Paul Mason of The Guardian reviews  War Against War! , published by Spokesman, in his piece 'Horrific pictures of dead bodies won't stop wars' (23 November 2014).  'Friedrich’s work represented a breakthrough. Before then, imagery of war had been subject to absolute censorship during conflict and diluted for the sake of “taste and decency” by the media during peacetime.' Mason juxtaposes Friedrich's intentions in publishing this graphically illustrated book against the frustrations of contemporary war journalists and photographers; w hereas ' the first world war was begun in ignorance about the horrors of war', now  ' a disbelieving public has come to see all graphic imagery of war as potentially fake, manipulated or propagandist.' The full article is available to read online here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/23/horrific-pictures-of-dead-bodies-wont-stop-wars War Against War! by Ernst Friedrich is available fro...

Featuring: Owen Jones on the Establishment  | I ain Sinclair in conversation  | Natalie Bennett (Leader of the Green Party)  | Sheila Cohen, Alan Tuckman and Tom Unterrainer on unions  | Tansy Hoskins on the garment industry  | A Modern Don Juan book launch   | Music and magic from Frankie Armstrong, Grace Petrie, Sandra Kerr, Leon Rosselson, Ian Saville, Boff Whalley  | Will Simpson and Jim Keoghan on punk football  | Phil Cohen on the 1960s  | Marie Thompson on protest music  | Marcus O'Dair on Robert Wyatt  | Isabel Cartwright on peace education  | Ruth Kinna on anarchism for beginners

Conway Hall Ethical Society's imminent series of events, STOP THE FIRST WORLD WAR , will feature a lecture on Bertrand Russell, to be delivered by Chris Bratcher on 7 October at 7pm. We enclose the current programme here. Readers may be interested in our timely book on Russell, A Pacifist At War: Letters and Writings 1914-1918 . See http://www.spokesmanbooks.com/acatalog/Bertrand_Russell.html for further information on this title.   

Russell Tribunal finds evidence of incitement to genocide crimes against humanity in Gaza www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en   Read the full summary of findings at http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Summary-of-findings-1.pdf September 25 th 2014   For Immediate Release Photo from https://www.facebook.com/russelltribunal The Russell Tribunal on Palestine's Emergency Session on Israel's Operation Protective Edge held yesterday in Brussels has found evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of murder, extermination and persecution and also incitement to genocide. The Jury [1] reported: 'The cumulative effect of the long-standing regime of collective punishment in Gaza appears to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group in Gaza.' 'The Tribunal emphasises the potential for a regime of persecutio...

Israel’s Crimes in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge – Extraordinary session of the Russell Tribunal 24-25 September – Brussels A few weeks ago, members of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, outraged by Israel’s terrible assault on Gaza and its population, decided to start working on an extraordinary session of the Tribunal that will look into Israel’s Crimes (including War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and the Crime of Genocide) during the still ongoing “Operation Protective Edge” as well as third States complicity. During this session our jury, composed of Michael Mansfield QC, John Dugard, Vandana Shiva, Christiane Hessel, Richard Falk, Ahdaf Soueif, Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Roger Waters, Ronnie Kasrils, Radhia Nasraoui and Miguel Angel Estrella will listen to testimonies from Paul Behrens, Desmond Travers, David Sheen, Max Blumenthal, Eran Efrati, Mads Gilbert, Mohammed Abou-Arab, Mads Gilbert, Paul Mason, Martin Lejeune, Mohammed Omer, Raji Sourani, Ashraf Mashharawi, ...

Israel's systematic attacks on civilians to be examined by the Russell Tribunal on Palestine 24-25 September – Brussels – Albert Hall, Brussels   www. russelltribunalonpalestine. com/en/   For immediate release   Wednesday September 17 th     The Russell Tribunal's extraordinary session on Gaza will examine Israeli attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure during 'Operation Protective Edge' in July and August of this year.   Human Rights Watch recently accused Israel of committing war crimes in a report analysing three attacks on schools in Jabalya, Beit Hanoun and Rafah. The attacks killed 45 people, including 17 children.   This is not the first time that a human rights probe has made such claims. United Nations and Amnesty International investigations have also found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.   According to the United Nations, 2,131 Palestinians were kil...

Public Meeting The Irish Neutrality League and the Imperialist War 1914-18 Tuesday 21st October, Liberty Hall, Dublin Speakers   Gerry Adams President, Sinn F éi n   Mary Carolan Sheehy Skeffington School of Human Rights and Social Justice   Jack O'Connor General President, SIPTU   Michael O'Reilly Dublin Council of Trade Unions   Dr. Margaret Ward Director of the Women's Resource Centre   Chair: Freda Hughes Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign www.pana.ie

As we write, our programme is being printed. It's not happened until now because some of the fantastic international events we are bringing you didn't get confirmed funding until a week ago and we've been working our socks off since then to get the final programme completed. So it is an appropriate time to give a big high five to our designer at Silbercow and printers at Russell Press who have been exceptionally friendly, patient and responsive to our increasingly hysterical demands. Sorry, I meant urgent demands. Russell Press themselves have an interesting history, being founded by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation in 1968 which seems a spectacularly relevant coincidence to some of our international programme, especially an event called Faultlines (14 October) which will be chaired by English Pen and features writers from conflict-ridden and dangerous parts of the world. Tickets for this, and other events, will be on sale via the Nottingham Playhouse Box...

Dear colleagues and alumni, Please help us to disseminate this information regarding the new online course organised by the Open University of Catalonia and sponsored by the International Peace Bureau titled DISARMAMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT We believe that today - more than ever - military budgets have to be reduced and funds allocated to human development. Best wishes, Daniel Jakopovich Council member of the International Peace Bureau   ===== Disarmament for Development NGO: International Peace Bureau Dates: October 1, 2014 - February 15, 2015 Language: English Credits: 6 credits (150 h) Cost : Registration and Enrolment fees €300 Organised by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in partnership with the International Peace Bureau (IPB) Introduction The world spends over $1.7 trillion each year on the military. Even a fraction of this sum could go a long way in tackling mass poverty and mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Meanwhile ...

As Nato leaders gather this week in Wales, JEREMY CORBYN explores how the military alliance finds ever new ways to justify its seemingly endless expansion. Thursday 28th Aug 2014 posted by Morning Star Looking at government websites about the forthcoming Nato leaders’ conference at the Celtic Manor golf club, one could be forgiven for assuming it was some sort of gourmet festival. The leaders of 60 nations will descend on Celtic Manor hotel, be treated to a sumptuous dinner at Cardiff Castle hosted by Prince Charles, visit a warship in Cardiff Bay and enjoy all the best hospitality on offer. The chef has been named, the roads closed, the security fences built and demonstrations planned. To counter this (presumably unwelcome) intrusion there will be Nato-themed exhibitions and culinary delights. There is no encouragement of the BBC or other media to discuss the actual role and purpose of Nato, its effects on our foreign and defence policy or its role in conflicts around the ...

The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd.   Russell House, Bulwell Lane, Nottingham NG6 0BT, England       MESSAGE   The leaders of 28 NATO member countries and others gather for a summit meeting in Newport, the third city of Wales, on 4-5 September 2014. For days together, this small city has been besieged while fences, gates and barricades are erected to protect those attending. The cost is substantial, and there is considerable inconvenience to the people of Newport and to the activists of the international peace movement who have organised a counter-summit there. NATO’s uselessness is never more apparent than when it rudely disrupts people’s lives in order to exult in 65 costly years of existence.   It was with some foresight, in 1949, that the distinguished Irish Foreign Minister, Seán MacBride, rejected an invitation, sent through the American Ambassador in Dublin, to participate in a meeting to discuss the fo...

See http://www.abolishwar.org.uk/  for more information, or to book online.

Summer, 69 years later. The burning sun takes us back to "that day."   August 6, 1945. A single atomic bomb renders Hiroshima a burnt plain.   From infants to the elderly, tens of thousands of innocent civilians lose their lives in a single day. By the end of the year, 140,000 have died. To avoid forgetting that sacred sacrifice and to prevent a repetition of that tragedy, please listen to the voices of the survivors.   Approximately 6,000 young boys and girls died removing buildings for fire lanes. One who was a 12-year-old junior high student at the time says, "Even now, I carry the scars of war and that atomic bombing on my body and in my heart. Nearly all my classmates were killed instantly. My heart is tortured by guilt when I think how badly they wanted to live and that I was the only one who did." Having somehow survived, hibakusha still suffer from severe physical and emotional wounds.   "Water, please." Voices from ...