Spokesman the publishing imprint of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation

Spokesman the publishing imprint of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation We are the publishing imprint of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. We are an independent book p

04/12/2024

CSSGJ Annual Lecture 2024: Nuclear Risks in an Age of War, Genocide and Global Shifts - a Public Talk by CND Chair Tom Unterrainer

20/11/2024

“In this world which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don't like. We can only live together in that way, and if we are to live together and not die together we must learn the kind of charity and kind of tolerance which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.”

— Bertrand Russell, BBC Face to Face Interview (5 March 1959)

Image: Bertrand Russell (13 July 1949) by Yousuf Karsh an Armenian-Canadian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century.

THE ABC OF ATOMS by Bertrand Russellhttps://spokesmanbooks.org/product/abc-atoms/Long out of print, this new edition of ...
18/10/2024

THE ABC OF ATOMS by Bertrand Russell
https://spokesmanbooks.org/product/abc-atoms/

Long out of print, this new edition of The ABC of Atoms is introduced by Dr David Alexandre Ellwood, a theoretical physicist and former research director of the Clay Mathematics Institute. Dr Ellwood serves on the Executive Committee of British Pugwash. The ABC of Atoms was first published in 1923.

‘It is remarkable that, like Einstein’s theory of gravitation, a great deal of the work on the structure of the atom was done during the war. It is probable that it will ultimately be used for making more deadly explosives and projectiles than any yet invented.’

Bertrand Russell in The ABC of Atoms

As relevant today as it was a century ago, The ABC of Atoms provides a clean, concise introduction to the constituents of matter by an author who is internationally known for his power of writing graphic and simple English, as well as for his own intellectual achievements.

The first few decades of the 20th century were the most exciting in the history of physics, and Bertrand Russell had a front row seat. The discoveries of X-rays (1895), radioactivity (1896) and the electron (1897) unlocked an unparalleled period of experimental creativity and theoretical advance, leading to amazing insights in our knowledge of the material world. Instead of the atom being regarded as an immutable unit of matter, it was found to resemble a miniature solar system, a few billionths of a centimetre in diameter, whose orbital structure is governed by revolutionary new dynamical laws that continue to astound physicists to this day...

PICTURING THE DPRK by Glyn Fordhttps://spokesmanbooks.org/product/picturing-the-dprk/North Korea, or as it prefers to be...
16/10/2024

PICTURING THE DPRK by Glyn Ford
https://spokesmanbooks.org/product/picturing-the-dprk/

North Korea, or as it prefers to be known the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is portrayed as mysterious and malevolent with its leadership denounced for its military enterprise and human rights abuses. It is no one’s poster boy for anything positive, prejudged as perennially guilty of the worst actions for the worst reasons. Yet, hidden behind this facade are the people of the DPRK as depicted in these photographs taken by Glyn Ford during some 50 visits over recent decades. Outside the circle of family and friends who hold the reigns of power and feature so prominently in the coverage of the tabloids and TV, there are 26 million men, women and children like us. These millions have their hopes, dreams, and fears that march on a treadmill that rarely stops, save intercut with rest and play. Picturing the DPRK puts these people and their places centre stage. They, and the rest of the people on the Peninsula, will be the hapless victims of any attempt to force regime change or any inadvertent stumbling into war. The lessons of Iraq, Libya and Syria have taught the world that applied idealism in the absence of realism is the road to hell in a handcart.

Glyn Ford was a Member of the European Parliament for 25 years (1984-2009). Much of his focus was on the International Trade and Foreign Affairs Committees, particularly with respect to East Asia. He has travelled to the DPRK some 50 times since his initial visit in 1997.

Glyn continues his engagement with Pyongyang through the Brussels based NGO Track2Asia. He is a Board Member of the Pacific Century Institute and has published North Korea on the Brink: Struggle For Survival (2008), Talking to North Korea (2018) – both translated into Korean – and Riding Two Horses; Labour and Europe (2022) – available from Spokesman.

Keep Space for Peace
11/10/2024

Keep Space for Peace

New Title: A Ken Coates ReaderThe Spokesman 158 - edited by Tony Simpson and Tom Unterrainerhttps://spokesmanbooks.org/p...
09/10/2024

New Title: A Ken Coates Reader
The Spokesman 158 - edited by Tony Simpson and Tom Unterrainer
https://spokesmanbooks.org/product/the-spokesman-158-a-ken-coates-reader/

Ken Coates edited The Spokesman journal for four decades from its inception in 1970. He discussed at length with Bertrand Russell the purposes of The Spokesman and the contents of its inaugural issue in the months before Russell’s death in early 1970. Russell died while that first issue was with the printers in Nottingham. There was only time to add this ‘sad but proud statement: The Spokesman, founded by Bertrand Russell, is dedicated to carrying on his work.’

We dedicate this special issue of The Spokesman to the memory of Ken Coates and his lifelong activism, commitment and creativity. In large part, Ken continued Russell’s work for peace, human right and social justice, but he was always his own man, as this diverse selection reveals.

Rare item: Bertrand Russell's 'HISTORY OF THE WORLD in epitome (For use in Martian infant schools) | £6.99 https://spoke...
08/10/2024

Rare item: Bertrand Russell's 'HISTORY OF THE WORLD in epitome (For use in Martian infant schools) | £6.99
https://spokesmanbooks.org/product/history-of-the-world-in-epitome/

Bertrand Russell’s 21-word summary of human history, issued on the occasion of his 90th birthday and written in reaction to the Cuban missile crisis. Illustrated by Franciszka Themerson and published by Gaberbocchus.

The back cover reads:

"HISTORY OF THE WORLD in epitome is being published by Gaberbochhus Press on the 18th May 1962, as their contribution to the celebration of Bertrand Russell’s nintieth birthday. All proceeds are presented to him, to use as he wishes."

Spokesman Classics: POWER AND HUMANISM by Lucien Goldmannhttps://spokesmanbooks.org/product/power-and-humanism/Lucien Go...
07/10/2024

Spokesman Classics: POWER AND HUMANISM by Lucien Goldmann
https://spokesmanbooks.org/product/power-and-humanism/

Lucien Goldmann was born in 1913, in Romania. In 1934 he settled in France, although he was driven into emigration in Switzerland during the years of the second world war. After the war the publication of his major works on Kant and Pascal established his world-wide reputation in the sociology of literature. In addition to his philosophical work, he carried on an active struggle for his own concept of socialist humanism, which resulted in an extensive output of articles and public lectures, many of which are of abiding interest. He participated in the Stockholm Conference on Czechoslovakia, organised in 1969 by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, and subsequently the papers in this volume were published by the Foundation in its journal The Spokesman.

Distinguished philosopher and dedicated socialist activist, Lucien Goldmann demands attention from all those to whom the humanities have an immediate practical meaning in the struggles of daily life. Whether he is considering the theology of Jansenism or the significance of the experiments in self-management in Yugoslavia, Goldmann’s thought is always seeking to establish the connections between the way we live now and the ideas we hold about how life should be lived. No modern thinker is more courageously open-minded, yet principled, than the Goldmann whose practical concerns and academic interests are fused in these essays.

First published by Spokesman Books in 1974 as part of the ‘European Socialist Thought’ series. This edition published in 2024 as a Spokesman Classic.

Who is this journalist, interviewing Bertrand Russell in the 1960s?
03/10/2024

Who is this journalist, interviewing Bertrand Russell in the 1960s?

New: The Spokesman 158 - A Ken Coates Readerhttps://spokesmanbooks.org/product/the-spokesman-158-a-ken-coates-reader/Edi...
24/09/2024

New: The Spokesman 158 - A Ken Coates Reader
https://spokesmanbooks.org/product/the-spokesman-158-a-ken-coates-reader/

Edited by Tony Simpson & Tom Unterrainer

Ken Coates edited The Spokesman journal for four decades from its inception in 1970. He discussed at length with Bertrand Russell the purposes of The Spokesman and the contents of its inaugural issue in the months before Russell’s death in early 1970. Russell died while that first issue was with the printers in Nottingham. There was only time to add this ‘sad but proud statement: The Spokesman, founded by Bertrand Russell, is dedicated to carrying on his work.’

We dedicate this special issue of The Spokesman to the memory of Ken Coates and his lifelong activism, commitment and creativity. In large part, Ken continued Russell’s work for peace, human right and social justice, but he was always his own man, as this diverse selection reveals.

Library Deep in the underground bunker, 1959
12/09/2024

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Sheffield Launch of People's Republic of South Yorkshire book

Introducing Helen Jackson's timely book, People's Republic of South Yorkshire. Order from: www.spokesmanbooks.org

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