MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Firefighters and their Union: The First Hundred Years 1918-2018 by Francis Beckett
Excellent tribute to Fire Brigades Union in its centenary year
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
THE STRENGTH and volume of applause that greets the line of Fire Brigades Union (FBU) banners at the annual Durham Miners’ Gala is testament to the deep respect and regard in which firefighters and their union are held. This book does them justice.
Beautifully presented and illustrated with vivid, moving photographs, it has fascinating insights into the history of their union.
Francis Beckett charts a chronological course through FBU history, starting with the establishment of a London fire service in 1833 which, until 1899, employed only sailors.
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SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
SUE TURNER is fascinated to read of another miners’ strike of the 1980s, told through the voices of women
A book whose positive message and clear-eyed sense of purpose make it an inspirational read is recommended by SUE TURNER
SUE TURNER recommends the first ever English edition of a memoir of Abraham Sutzkever, a poet turned resistance activist in the Vilna Ghetto in Lithuania
