Spokesman Books

  'Viewing Fish at Flower Pool': A souvenir of Russell's visit to the Western Lake, Hangzhou Bertrand Russell is hugely influential in China, and has been for almost a century. He is recommended reading for high school and university students. The General Manager of The Commercial Press, which has published Russell in translation in China since his nine-month visit in 1920-21, quotes him in speeches. Russell’s statement towards the end of his life, ‘What I have lived for', seems to have made a powerful and lasting impact. Russell's story in China is closely interwoven with that of The Commercial Press, which is itself an institution of some durability in the ups and downs of China’s recent history.  The Commercial Press Head Office, built in the 1950s, is on Wangfujing Street in the centre of Beijing.     Apparently, one of the founders of Commercial Press suggested that Russell be invited to China, and CP put up a considerable sum t...

Our good comrade and friend, Michael, died in London on 7 May after several weeks in hospital following a fall at home. During his long and eventful life, he worked closely with the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation and the Institute for Workers’ Control, and was a regular contributor to  The Spokesman  journal. We shall miss him greatly, and will publish a full appreciation later. Michael’s funeral is at 12 o’clock on Wednesday 10 June at Golders Green Crematorium (West Chapel), Hoop Lane, London NW11 7NL.

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, will give the inaugural Ken Coates Memorial Lecture at the University of Nottingham   (Law and Social Sciences Building) on Wednesday 3 June 2015 at 6.30pm , a few weeks after the General Election. Ken Coates died on 27 June 2010, in his eightieth year. He was a prolific author whose work included the Penguin Classic  Poverty: The Forgotten Englishmen , about the St Ann’s district of Nottingham, co-authored with Richard Silburn. The Times commented: ‘Writing with compassion, style, wit and an almost complete lack of jargon, [they] present us with inescapable facts which must remould our thinking and our actions.’ During the 1960s, Bertrand Russell invited Ken Coates to work with him  at the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. This was to lead to location of the Foundation’s offices in Nottingham, where they remain to this day. Ken Coates edited The Spokesman, the Foundation’s journal, for 40 years; he als...

In late 2014, the US Navy awarded an $84 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification contract for 'tactical missile tube manufacturing'. In total, according to the US Navy, 17 missile tubes will be manufactured: '12 for the UK Successor lead ship, four for the OR [Ohio class ballistic missile submarine Replacement] First Article Quad Pack and one for the Strategic Weapons System - Ashore (SWSA) test facility.' What is this arcane language telling us? The $84 millions is to fund 'joint United States and United Kingdom Common Missile Compartment (CMC) missile tube manufacturing'. According to Rob Edwards ( Sunday Herald , 23.11.14), 70 per cent of this cost is being paid by the UK. Curiously, 12 of the first 17 tubes are for the 'UK successor lead ship'. This is curious for two reasons. Firstly, the UK government has deferred until 2016 the 'main-gate' decision on Trident replacement. Secondly, the UK government has repeatedly claimed in publi...

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 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...

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...

The Russell Foundation has received a nice postcard from Margaretta D’Arcy, who is in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison for protesting about US military use of Shannon Airport. We sent her some books by Bertrand Russell when she complained about the poor library at Limerick Prison, where she was held previously. The Irish Times published our letter about this on 14 February. Margaretta can now be reached at the address below. *** Margaretta D’Arcy 79759 Dóchas Centre Mountjoy Jail, North Circular Road Dublin 8 Thank you so much for the books which arrived safely at this jail. The women are delighted as of course they know about Bertrand Russell but have not read of him so there is strong [interest] there. Yours in solidarity, Margaretta D’Arcy

Aramaic Chants and Classical Music from Iraq With a tribute to Ziriab 28 Feb 2014, 7 to 9 pm; at: Barnabas Church, London SW1W 8PF 7.00 - 7.05 Welcome and thank you (Victoria Brittain) 7.05 - 7.30 Aramaic chants by Behnam Keryo with Francisco Iannuzzelli on Oud 7.30 - 7.40 Alberto Portugheis - Isaac Albeniz's piano canticle CORDOBA 7.40 - 8.10 A Tribute to Ziriab (789-857)-Mini-Recital by Khatchatur I. Pilikian (Tenor) & Alberto Portugheis (Piano) 8.10 - 8.25 --------- Refreshments --------- 8.25 - 8.40 Francisco Iannuzzelli - Iraqi Maqams on Oud: Samai Huzam & Kapris by Sherif Muhiddin Haydar, and Asfour Tar (the flying bird) by Munir Bashir 8.40 - 8.50 Narmeen Zangana: Homage to Baghdad on Piano 8.50 - 9.00 Behnam Keryo: Epic of Gilgamesh with Francisco on Oud For further details visit the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation website.

Iraqis have always strived to convey hope in their future on their journey towards peace and justice, despite the many wrongs and destruction of their homeland. From the Mesopotamian Aramaic chants of lament and repentance to classical music based on Maqam, from the epic of Gilgamesh in search for eternal life to the music of the exile. Tadhamun: Iraqi Women Solidarity cordially invites you to attend a musical evening: “Voices for Peace - Aramaic Chants and Classical Music from Iraq” to celebrate Iraqi culture and people, at St Barnabas’ Church – often described as one of the most beautiful churches in London. Date: Friday 28th Feb 2014 Time: 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm Venue: St Barnabas’ Church. St Barnabas Street, London SW1W 8PF Nearest tube stn: Sloan Square Admission: Free For further details of the programme visit the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation website Tadhamun – Iraqi Women Solidarity: http://solidarityiraq.blogspot.com For more info pls call: 07989861380/ 0796902932...

Posted on January 8, 2014 by europeancollections As an academic with a strong Cambridge connection, it is perhaps unsurprising that Cambridge University Library has a fairly extensive collection of books by and about Bertrand Russell. Rather more surprising perhaps is the fact that we have a substantial number of works by Russell in translation. The Library holds many Russell translations published in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, which were usually acquired by donation and which were interspersed within the general intake. Then there was a hiatus until relatively recently, when the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation resumed donations. These new acquisitions stand together in a small special collection in CCC.64.1- and can all be consulted in the Rare Books Reading Room. The translations in this special collection currently number over 60 volumes. They are in a wide variety of languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Italian, as well as Chinese and Japanese. Accor...

The Bertrand Russell Peace Russell Foundation supports an important initiative from Greece (see below). A nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East would enhance security in the region and the wider world. For decades, Israel's large nuclear arsenal has created instability, with Saudi Arabia now identified as the latest regional power seeking its own nuclear weapon. A nuclear arms race in the Middle East is of direct concern to the European Union, which abuts the region in the Eastern Mediterranean. So, as Greece prepares to assume the rotating Presidency of the EU in January 2014, it is vital that the Greek Government keeps in mind the interests and concerns of the wider Union and ensures these are represented at the proposed conference in Finland, initiated by the UN under the auspices of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whenever it takes place. Greece has a vital role to play in securing Europe's peace and security. This cannot be done in absentia, and...

William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary, couldn’t bring himself to utter Edward Snowden’s name, when he made an urgent statement to the House of Commons on 10 June 2013. This was in the wake of Snowden’s revelations about ‘Prism’, the US National Security Agency’s covert and extensive surveillance operation, which has been ongoing since 2007. Mr Hague wasn’t going to comment on ‘leaks’, as he repeatedly told the House. This rather put the Foreign Secretary 'behind the curve' in the debate that followed, excerpts from which are reproduced in this number of The Spokesman. Some of his comments to the House have been called into question by subsequent developments. We publish some of the seminal texts of this developing story. *** The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation was established in 1963. In this, our fiftieth anniversary year, we take stock a little. What was happening then? What pre-occupied Russell? What was the peace movement doing? Contents: Editorial ...

In April 1963, Grigoris Lambrakis laid a wreath at the feet of Lord Byron, whose statue is to be found near Hyde Park Corner in London. He had walked about 80 kilometres, all the way from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, carrying his banner marked “ELLAS” (Greece), as part of CND’s annual Easter March. A few weeks later, on 27 May, Lambrakis was murdered in public, in Thessaloniki, in the north of Greece. These dramatic events were captured in Costa-Gavras’s acclaimed film “Z”, which takes its title from the first letter of the Greek word Zi , meaning “he lives”. “Z” appeared in graffiti all over Athens. Dr Lambrakis’s public stand for peace and against oppression continues to resonate in Greece and beyond. He inaugurated the first Marathon March for Peace, carrying the same ELLAS banner he had raised in England. In Greece, he marched alone initially, it seems, defying an official ban on the event. Later, thousands joined him, defying the ban. Bertrand...

Ayse Berktay, friend of the Russell Foundation for many years, has now been acknowledged by PEN America and awarded the 2013 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write prize. Here is here acceptance speech, written in prison in Turkey, where she has been held without bail since October 2011 (see Spokesman issues 115, 119, 120) Ayşe Berktay in Bakırköy Women’s Prison. Photo courtesy Ali Berktay STATUS: On Trial Ayşe Berktay is a translator, scholar, author, and cultural and women’s rights activist. Her publications include History and Society: New Perspectives, 2008, and The Ottoman Empire and the World Around with Suraiya Faroqhi; and she is the editor of Women and Men in the 75th Year of the Turkish Republic. Her translations include The Imperial Harm: Gender and Power in the Ottoman Empire, 1520-1656 by Leslie Penn Pierce; and The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922 (New Approaches to European History) by Donald Quataert. Over the past decade, Ayşe conducted work at the History Trust, ...

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine mourns the passing of Stéphane Hessel Brussels - 27 February 2013 For Immediate Release Stéphane Hessel, author of the bestseller Time for outrage , French ambassador, human rights’ advocate and great philosopher, died last night at the age of 95. The Russell Tribunal on palestine (RToP) mourns the passing of its honorary president and huge supporter. Pierre Galand, RToP general coordinator says : The Tribunal has always ben his project, and he was its soul as he has always inspired us with his ideas and supported us with concrete gestures. He would have participated in the last session of the Tribunal, in Brussels on 16 and 17 March, but now that he’s passed away we will pay him the tribute he deserves. With his death, we loss a last eye-witness of the drafting of the Human Rights’ declaration. If the World loses a great personality and a distinguished intellectual and activist, at a personal level, I will miss him as a comrade and a friend ...

PEACE IN KURDISTAN CAMPAIGN Statement 22 February 2012 It is with dismay and outrage that once again we learn of yet another round of mass arrests in Turkey. This time the victims of this repressive police action, which has become all too commonplace in the country in recent months, are trade union activists and union officials. Read in full

Thanks to Deep Dish TV , we now have a great HD quality 2 hours film about the New York session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine available online. Watch it, share it, use it! http://youtu.be/HLgzUuuq21g All the best Frank Barat Coordinator Russell Tribunal on Palestine . Follow us on Facebook . Corporate Complicity in Israel's Occupation book about the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine is out now. Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians my book with Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, is out now. Read my blog here .

Ayşe Berktay has written a letter from Bakırköy Prison accepting her PEN award. The letter can be read in full here .

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) have prepared this Bulletin , following the end of mass hunger strikes amongst predominantly Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey's prisons, on 18 November. The BDP has 36 members of the Turkish Parliament, elected mainly with the support of Turkey's substantial Kurdish minority, which exceeds 20 million people. Ayse Berktay , long time activist in the Turkish peace movement and a good friend of the Russell Foundation , writes from her prison in Istanbul, where she has been held since October 2011.