ALEX HALL appreciates the history of a famous shoot-out that is sourced from diaries, letters, and newspapers of the time

GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes an eloquent and monumental history of the many different groups that have opposed imperialism with tactical violence

HELEN MERCER recommends a timely history of theCivil Service worker organisation that proposes a principled and strategic approach for the future

ALAN McGUIRE welcomes the complete poems of Seamus Heaney for the unmistakeable memory of colonialism that they carry

MATTHEW HAWKINS enjoys the work of reading the essays of a rigorous and leading London/Caribbean cultural participant

GORDON PARSONS is fascinated by a musical — and questioning — survey of Shakespeare’s attitude to women

JOHN GREEN explores the controversial and popular images of the late Martin Parr, made in the heyday of Thatcherism

BILLY BRAGG on the role that music can play in resistance to state-sponsored violence

JOHN GREEN, MARIA DUARTE and LEO BOIX review The Shepherd and the Bear, Hamlet, Twinless, and 100 Nights of Hero

MARIA DUARTE recommends an extraordinary film that explores an absent father’s attempt to make up to his sons

GEOFF BOTTOMS applauds a version set amid the violent conflicts of the 19th century west African Oyo empire before the intervention of British colonialism

Chris Searle speaks to saxophonist LARRY STABBINS