Earlier this month I watched a group of masked protestors (or technically counter-protestors) march towards a riot police cordon chanting “Anti-Fascisto”. They were trying to prevent the police from protecting a (thankfully small) protest led by “Bristol Patriots” against a hotel housing asylum seekers. It was a powerful moment to witness. And I realised I knew a lot of the history behind it thanks to the book I was in the middle of reading.

Resist: Stories of Uprising edited by Ra Page is a collection of short stories and essays about moments in British history when people rose up in protest. From Boudicca’s rising in 60/61 to Grenfell Tower in 2017, there’s a whole range of stories. People have revolted for many different reasons in many different ways, and most were countered with violent pushback.

These examples were not always successful protests in the eyes of the people protesting. “The done thing” by Luan Goldie explores the Ford Dagenham Women’s Strike 1968 through a modern-day scene of an old woman who participated in the strike and doesn’t want to talk about it. The strike was a major news story that probably contributed to equal pay legislation, but at the time there was a lot of disillusionment and guilt among the strikers as technically they capitulated and accepted a lesser pay offer. And of course, we know the residents of Grenfell Tower were not listened to in their many complaints and concerns before the horrific fire.

There are also stories that explore the ethics of the protest itself. In “Occupied territory” by Bidisha, Boudicca’s bloodthirsty fury at the Roman occupation led to her murdering many of her own people she deemed to be collaborators. In “Two for one” by Nikita Lalwani, Jay and Sam’s marriage is faltering while their son serves a prison sentence. They disagree over their son’s looting during the Tottenham Riots of 2011. This is followed by an excellent essay by Dr Roger Ball about the “untidiness” of protests. He covers how the words “riots” and “looting” are loaded; the anti-establishment euphoria when the balance of power lies with the protestors.

Unsurprisingly, there are some very moving stories, including ones covering history I knew nothing about. “Little bird” by Steve Chambers describes the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Briefly, Oswald Mosley’s Fascists announced their intention to hold a rally in a heavily Jewish East London neighbourhood and more than 100,000 anti-Fascists travelled from across Britain and beyond to defend Jewish homes and businesses and try to prevent the Fascist rally from taking place. In the days beforehand, “They shall not pass” was chalked on streets and pavements on and near Cable Street. This adoption of “No paseran!” was a deliberate nod to the Spanish Civil War.

Stories such as that and another about the Southall Town Hall protest of 1979 acted as a mini history of Fascism in the UK – a history that is depressingly still relevant and still ongoing.

I’m really grateful to have learned bits of history I didn’t previously know about. The stories vary a lot in style and the angle from which they explore the protests. I enjoyed some more than others but overall I loved reading this. I’m keen to pick the other volume in the series, Protest, from my TBR to continue the journey.

Published 2019 by Comma Press.

Source: birthday present from family.