We Fought The Law: Political Protests And Police ViolenceBy: Judy Cox

This book is a response to the Tory government’s new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which aims to criminalise protest and introduce punitive sentencing for those who seek to organise a collective challenge to the system. It is also an exploration of a deeper crisis in confidence in the police, sparked by a number of highly publicised examples of police racism, sexism  and homophobia.

Most of the people interviewed in this book had no intention of challenging the forces of the state. They learnt that to defend jobs and communities or protest against injustice led inevitably to confrontations with the police. This book is a record of the stories of socialists and working-class activists who wanted to protest against war or fascism, who wanted to win rights for women, who wanted to defend their jobs or protest unfair taxes and found themselves facing down police horses, baton charges and police rampages.