Spokesman Books

Dear Madam / Sir, Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends of Peace, In 7 days the largest international peace gathering of the year will begin, bringing together reflections on and analyses of the political situation with the current challenges and actions regarding peace and the threats to peace all around our world. Over 190 workshops, the Round Table discussions, the Peace Assembly and the opening and closing events will all deal with a range of aspects of creating peace in the face of global challenges such as climate change and food crises. They will discuss the topics of violence and oppression, with the aim of developing alternatives such as non-violence and civil conflict resolution and then ensuring their political acceptance – in spite of the political culture worldwide which almost exclusively relies on war and violence. Together with affected people from the region we want to continue the process of dealing with the terrible war in and over Yugoslavia. Here we also hope t

Warwick University Ltd: Lessons from 1970 and the higher education sector today A conference sponsored by Warwick Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) Friday 6 June 2014 , 10 am - 4 pm, Woods-Scawen Room, Warwick University Arts Centre “Is it inevitable that the university will be reduced to the function of providing, with increasing authoritarian efficiency, pre-packed intellectual commodities which meet the requirements of management? Or can we by our efforts transform it into a centre of free discussion and action, tolerating and even encouraging ‘subversive’ thought and activity, for a dynamic renewal of the whole society within which it operates?” (E P Thompson, Warwick University Limited ) Warwick University Limited , edited by E.P.Thompson, the great historian of the English working class and one of Warwick's leading academics, was published as a Penguin Special in 1970. It followed events that began with a student occupation of the administration building and th

The Russell Foundation sent this message to a ceremony in Athens at the graveside of Dr Grigoris Lambrakis. The assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis robbed the world of a man with profound insight into the glorious art of peace. His life and activism continue to inspire new work, such as the timely book by Panos Trigazis, which we are proud to publish in Britain in an English edition on this day, 51 years after he was murdered. Dr Lambrakis had visited Britain three times in the months before his death. He marched to London from the nuclear research establishment at Aldermaston, in the company of Manolis Glezos and other comrades, paying his respects to Lord Byron at the poet’s statue near Hyde Park. In England, Dr Lambrakis had sought international participation in what became the first Marathon Peace March. Strong support was forthcoming, but the march proved a lonely journey for Dr Lambrakis as the event was banned by the Greek authorities and exceptional measures w

Box Office now open! 0115 966 3219 Summer 2014 Hello - we are very happy to welcome you to the 15th Lowdham Book Festival, hard to believe! We look forward to sharing this special landmark with you, and to welcoming festival regulars and new friends to Lowdham this summer. We hope you enjoy this year's mix of music, comedy, crime, poetry, drama, cricket, history - and knitting... see you in June! Please note that tickets for the evening with Ruby Wax are only available from the Box Office at Nottingham Playhouse (details in the programme) and that this event starts at 8pm. Jane Streeter and Ross Bradshaw Click here to download the programme as a PDF document. After the Festival.... We have a lovely Autumn programme which includes our First Friday series of talks, a weekend of events in September with the theme of The Great Outdoors, and a Crime season in November at Southwell Library. Please keep in touch with us by emailing Jane or Ross on: janestreeter@t

GABRIEL KOLKO 1932-2014 Gabriel Kolko is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent historian of war in modern times. He was, together with his wife, Joyce,  a longtime friend of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, and a frequent contributor to The Spokesman journal.  We salute his life's work. Jeffrey St. Clair ,  edit or of CounterPunch , writes: We received word this morning that our friend and long-time CounterPunch writer Gabriel Kolko died yesterday at his home in Amsterdam. Kolko, author of The Triumph of Conservatism, Anatomy of a War, and A Century of War, was one of the pre-eminent historians of our time. Kolko was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1932. He attended Kent State University and received his doctorate in history from Harvard. Along with Saul Landau, Kolko was one of the circle of historians trained at University of Wisconsin by the great William Appleman Williams. Kolko taught history for many years at York University in Toronto.

A PUBLIC DEBATE "Britain's participation in World War One was just and should be defended" Speaker for the Motion : Patrick Mercer , former Member of Parliament for Newark and former colonel in the Sherwood Foresters. He writes and publishes on military affairs. Speaker against the Motion : Neil Faulkner , Research Fellow at Bristol University and editor of Military Times. He is the author of No Glory: The Real History of the First World War . 19.00, Thursday 29th. May at The Nottingham Mechanics, 3 North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, NG1 4EZ The issues around World War One are still of significance in the world today. Come along to hear different views on this important matter and, if you wish, join in the debate. ALL WELCOME

Problems of NATO The Spokesman 124 ISBN: 978 0 85124 834 9 Price £6.00 'Ukraine’s precipitate economic decline in recent decades, since it separated itself from the Soviet Union, is charted in this issue of The Spokesman ... Even before those momentous changes, beginning in late 1991, greater influence in the Soviet periphery had long been an objective of Western strategy. Once Ukraine became independent, the chosen methods to achieve such influence combined sponsored developments of Ukrainian ‘civil society’, much of it courtesy of the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy, with long-term economic, political and military interventions by the European Union and NATO. Instability and conflict in Ukraine may not trouble the Americans much, located as it is on Russia’s borders, but it should certainly concern Europeans who, among other considerations, will be asked to pick up much of the tab.' Tony Simpson, Editor Read all of Tony's Editorial on

First World War Peace Forum invites you to join them at the special: INTERNATIONAL CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR'S DAY CEREMONY 15 May 2014, at 12 noon Conscientious Objectors Stone Tavistock Square London WC1 In the run up to the centenary of the First World War, we will be remembering the Conscientious Objectors and the women peace campaigners who said No to the war. Descendants of more than 30 First World War Conscientious Objectors and women peace campaigners from all over the country will be coming to commemorate the lives of their relatives and the brave stand taken by all those who opposed the war. Some of these family members are daughters and sons of men who endured repeated imprisonment and force-feeding for their anti-war convictions, or worked in Friends Ambulance and War Relief activities. Flowers will be laid in tribute to the COs of the FirstWorld War and to COs all over the world. There will be brief speeches on Conscientious Objection in general, the COs

WAR against WAR! By Ernst Friedrich Foreword by Bruce Kent Originally published in Germany on 1st May 1924, this classic pictorial record of the First World War has long been hard to obtain. ‘ War Against War! is one of the most shocking books I have ever seen. As much a series of photographs as a book, it first appeared in 1924, the work of Ernst Friedrich, an anarchist, socialist, internationalist and peace worker.' Bruce Kent It contains 200 black and white photos and drawings from the First World War, with commentary in four languages. Publication date: 1st May 2014 | Price £9.99 Available to buy from Spokesman Books