Spokesman Books

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...

Taking the message to Parliament On 15th April, the Global Day of Action Against Military Spending (GDAMS), CAAT, Pax Christi, War on Want, CND and others joined together to take our message to Parliament, with a protest against prioritising military spending over public services and welfare. We came together to ask for investment in improving people’s quality of life, not destroying it through war and suffering. Improvements could be made by scrapping the £3bn annual cost of nuclear weapons in favour of quadrupling investment in renewable energy. On the day campaigners took the message to parliament. For more details visit the GDAMS website .

Stop Israeli Atrocities against Palestinian Children and People in Gaza! On the occasion of the Universal Children's Day 20 November and - the 23rd Anniversary for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) we, the International Board on Books for Young People-Palestinian Section appeal to all Children Rights advocates and defenders, to express solidarity with Palestinian children, and to pressure their governments and the International organizations to force Israel to end it aggression and war crimes against the Palestinian children and people in Gaza. Palestinian children, civilians and whole families are being blatantly targeted by the Israeli military with bombs weighing up to one ton dropped by F-16 fighter jets (more than 1200 raids so far), knowing that Gaza has no safe place and no shelters. Moreover, Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring the shortage of basic human needs and the wrecked infrastructure because of the 6-years-long criminal siege and the criminal w...

Professor Richard Falk is the UN's respected rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights. He is well worth reading. The Latest Gaza Catastrophe: Will They Ever Learn? by Richard Falk – TRANSCEND Media Service [ This post is an updated version of an article published in the online English edition of Al Jazeera, 17 Nov 2012, taking account of some further developments in the new horrifying unfolding of violence in Gaza .] President Obama, upon his arrival today in Bangkok at the start of a state visit to several Asian countries, reminded the world of just how unconditional U.S. support for Israel remains. Obama was quoted as saying, “There is no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside of its borders. We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.” Much is missing from such a sentiment, most glaringly, the absence of any balancing statement along the following line: “and no country would tolerate the periodic assassinati...

As Remembrance Sunday approaches, I feel more strongly than ever that the world is not as it should be. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Earth’s bounties are squandered and used to fill the pockets of the powerful. The so-called “war to end wars” was followed by another world war and by many localised ones, often characterised by unspeakable cruelty. In World War II my brother died, slowly and painfully of wounds, exposure and dehydration in a ship’s lifeboat. My boyhood friend, an RAF navigator, is buried in Germany. Our War Memorials list those who “gave their lives”: it would be more honest to say they were killed. If wars continue, thousands more people will be killed or wounded. Families will be devastated. Remembering is not enough. The best way to honour the dead is to work for the world they wanted, a world without war. We must learn to settle our differences by negotiation and to see violence as very much a last resort. We must not shake our heads in the belief...