Spokesman Books

Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives will play host to an upcoming exhibition on News International and the Wapping Dispute. Please click on the flyer images below for a larger view. Spokesman Book's title Bad News: The Wapping Dispute , by John Lang and Graham Dodkins, is available from the Trade Union Classics section of our website.  

Another featured article from the latest issue of The Spokesman comes from the 2011 edition of J. A. Hobson's Imperialism . Jeremy Corbyn penned the book's foreword, which we reprint here under the title 'Internationalist at Work'. As a separate point of interest, we also include this comparative image of the logo of publication The Week, circa 1960s, and Corbyn's recent campaign logo. Cut from the same cloth ?  Internationalist at Work J. A. Hobson wrote his great tome at a different age. His thoughts were dominated by the zenith of the British Empire and the Boer War. The outcome of the war demonstrated Britain’s then ability in sustaining global reach, since Elizabethan times, but also its extreme vulnerability. At home the poor physique of working class soldiers led to Haldane’s investigation into working class health and living conditions. The difficulty in containing the rebellious Boers, and the huge opposition to the war, encouraged furt...

Issue 130 of The Spokesman , 'One Belt, One Road', is now available. Among the books reviewed in this issue are two titles on pacifism and conscientious objection: The World is My Country , by Emily Johns and Gabriel Carlyle, and Refusing to Kill , by Oliver Haslam and PPU Publications Group.  Cranks and Kites Two peace-oriented publishers; two different approaches to presenting the lives of conscientious objectors and opponents of the First World War. The World is My Country calls itself a ‘celebration’, whereas Refusing to Kill is a more sombre appraisal, and pulls no punches. Read together, they prove there is room to remember both the anguish and the triumphs of this extremely diverse group. Refusing to Kill is primarily intended for use by teachers and students, as the layout and language indicate. It outlines the various forms of conscientious objection, such as non-combatant COs, who would drill and train but not serve; those who submitted to alternative l...