BOOK REVIEW

RMTnews :: may 2005 28 T essa Jowell's bizarre attempt to prevent Britain's biggest- ever demonstration from trampling the Hyde Park lawn is one of the many gems retold in Stop the War: The story of Britain's biggest mass movement. The pro-war Culture Secretary’s attempt to protect Hyde Park's grass from a million protesters was foiled, of course, by the organisers’ refusal to budge, Michael Foot's offer to lead the march into the park and massive public derision. The irony of a member of a government unleashing a war that has cost in excess of 100,000 lives being so concerned about the well-being of the grass is not lost on the book’s authors, Stop the War Coalition chair Andrew Murray and convenor Lindsey German. "Ms Jowell once said she would throw herself under a bus for the Prime Minister," they recall. "But she thought better of throwing herself in front of a million marchers.” This is a superb book that tells the story so far of the anti- war movement with clarity, passion and wit. It is powerfully illustrated and punctuated with recollections, verses and testimony that demonstrate the movement’s diversity and vitality. They include RMT general secretary Bob Crow’s speech at that record-smashing demonstration, as well as Tube Workers Against the War activist Unjum Mirza on how the London Underground’s PA system was used to announce anti-war demonstrations. The authors use the warmongers' own words to demolish the lies about weapons of mass destruction, alleged Iraqi links to al-Qaida and the supposed desire to "liberate" Iraqis and to show that the Bush regime was planning an attack on Iraq long before the September 11 attack on the New York World Trade Centre. They show the centrality to the drive to war of oil - or, rather, the ability to profit from it - and the strategic desire to bolster Israel at the expense of the Palestinians. And they describe how the seeds of the movement were sown, how it caught, articulated and mobilised the popular anti- war mood, and how it stood against the racist backlash and in defence of civil liberties. Murray and German take us through the immediate post- September 11 days and the war on Afghanistan, the build-up to war in Iraq, the dodgy dossier of lies about Iraqi weapons, the first great demonstration on September 28, 2002 and the historic, global events of February 15 2003. They describe the extraordinary people's assembly the following month, school students' revolts and the strikes and protests around Britain when the Iraq war was unleashed. This is a remarkable historical document, but it is not a wistful look back at something past and gone: it is the taking stock of a vital work in progress. Derek Kotz STOP THE WAR The story of Britain's biggest mass movement Stop the War by Andrew Murray and Lindsey German Available to RMT News readers at the reduced price of £12.99 from Bookmarks on 020 7637 1848, or in person at 1 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3QE – quote ‘RMT offer’ BOOK REVIEW