JOHN GREEN appreciates an informative and readable account of the nation state and its current dilemmas, but doubts the solutions this author has to offer
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Epic account of the Tolpuddle martyrs' struggle for trade union rights
JOHN MCINALLY recommends that this rational, reasonable and devastating case against the End Of Life Bill be read by every serious socialist activist
CHRIS SEARLE urges you not to miss Mark Sanders’ three night residency at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London
JENNY MITCHELL surveys the work of Hurvin Anderson, now a centrepiece of Britain’s white-dominated art establishment, and explores some of the complexities it opens up about British Caribbean identity
SOPHIE STOLL wallows in a fine live recording of old blues-infused folk songs immersed in American blue-collar culture
ANGUS REID and MARIA DUARTE review DJ Ahmet, Redoubt, They Will Kill You, and The Magic Faraway Tree
Six for the Tolpuddle Martyrs: The Epic Struggle for Justice and Freedom
by Alan Gallop
(Pen and Sword, £14.99)
ANYONE familiar with the song Red Fly the Banners, O! will understand the reference in the title of this book to six agricultural labourers from Dorset who’ve become a lasting symbol for the freedom to join a trade union.
Every July thousands flock to Tolpuddle in Dorset to commemorate their lengthy struggle and eventual success against the forces of the establishment — Parliament, the judiciary, the church and the landowners.
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