Race and Riots in Thatcher's Britain

(Hardback)

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Through exploration of black British community activism in three geographical case studies, this book argues that the 1980-1 anti-police disturbances should be viewed as 'collective bargaining by riot'. Utilising many original sources, it charts dichotomous attitudes towards public inquiries and discussions of increased political participation. -- .

Reviews

'Overall, this book enlivens, reinterprets, and repurposes previous analyses of both black history and protest studies, bringing them into clearer focus. As a national study, it retains (primarily) a state-orientated focus, while using urban case studies to illuminate certain problems, with the Manchester and Liverpool case studies of greatest interest for Transactions readers. Peplow makes a convincing case in how we examine historic protest linked with race and ethnicity, and his approach can inform future studies, offering a natural continuation to Peter Shapelys recent Deprivation, State Interventions and Urban Communities in Britain (Routledge 2018), which itself ends before the riot build-up Peplow covers after 1979.'
Dr Marc Collinson, Bangor University, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol. 168, 2019

'An engaging, deeply researched and accessible contribution to the field an excellent introduction to both the disorders of 19801981 and the processes and limitations of public inquiries. If it does not quite live up to the breadth signalled in the title, this is only an indication of the extent of research remaining to be performed in what is now a particularly timely area. For those wishing to carry out such research, or indeed involved in the types of struggle that form its subject, this book is an excellent place at which to begin.'
Social History

Author Bio

Simon Peplow is a Senior Teaching Fellow in Twentieth Century British History at the University of Warwick