Bristol Radical Pamphleteer
These pamphlets can be bought online from from Tangent Books & Active Distrobution.
All of these pamphlets are also available from Bloom & Curll, 74 Colston Street at the top of Christmas Steps.
If you want to display fine art. Discuss politics, poetry, Kafka or have a cup of tea. Play chess and plan the next revolution. We are available as a free space for discussion groups, clubs, workshops, rehearsals or as a place to simply sit, read and think. bloomandcurll@hotmail.com.
Bloom & Curll also stock No Quarter, the anarchist pirate zine.
Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #1
Cry Freedom, Cry Seven Stars: Thomas Clarkson In Bristol, 1787
By Mark Steeds
**This pamphlet is currently out of print while it is revised.
During 1787 abolitionist Thomas Clarkson started his research into the slave trade in Bristol. This pamphlet looks at how the histories of this pub and the abolition movement are intertwined and also some of the remarkable coincidences that link the name 'Seven Stars' with the slave trade.
All proceeds from the sale of this pamphlet will go towards the new Seven Stars plaque. Click here to find out more details about the Plaque. The pamphlet is available at The Seven Stars Pub, 1 Thomas Lane, Redcliffe, Bristol and from Target Books.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #2
We Come For Our Own And We Shall Have It - Smuggling In Poole And Dorset
By Kevin Davis
A look at the history of smuggling in Dorset and the government responses to it. This pamphlet examines to whether smugglers should be considered folk heroes and to what extent smuggling was a community enterprise.
Buy this pamphlet is available from Tangent Books.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #3 & 3.5
A Brief History Of Corporations - Where Did They Come From?
By Dan Bennett & Andy Singer
Where did corporations come from and how did they get the same legal rights as individuals? This pamphlet attempts to answer these questions in a manner that will not cause the reader too much distress. But if you want more jokes the pamphlet also includes a three page comic by Andy Singer which addresses the same questions.
"An entertaining and educational read" - Noam Chomsky (As relayed to Dan by Ward Morehouse, honest)
Buy this pamphlet is available from Tangent Books.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #4
The Bristol Manifesto - The 2008 G8 In Hokkaido: Strategic Assessment
By The Emergency Exit Collective
When Bristol Radical History Group staged a series of events called Down With The Fences! The Struggle For The Global Commons in May 2008, a group leading academics found themselves together in an Eastville living room. They talked about what they would like to say to the leaders of the G8 countries who were soon to meet in Hokkaido, Japan. The result of their discussions, published under the name of the ‘Emergency Exit Collective’, is The Bristol Manifesto.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #5
John Locke - The Philosopher of Primitive Accumulation
John Locke is the most famous philosopher born and raised in the vicinity of Bristol. He born in Wrington, Somerset about 12 miles from Bristol on August 29, 1632 and he was brought up in the market town of Pensford, about seven miles south of Bristol.
Locke is also not only the main intellectual founder of liberalism, but also of neoliberalism, the “ruling idea” of the ruling class of today.
George Caffentzis is associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine, USA.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #6
The Life And Times Of Warren James - Free Miner Of The Forrest Of Dean
By Ian Wright
Warren James was a man who was caught up in the social unrest that swept through the Forest of Dean in 1831, and who emerged as spokesman for the Foresters in their struggle to protect their ancient rights and way of life. The Forest Riots of 1831 were about insecurity, fear, poverty and starvation as a result of enclosures, enforced wage labour or unemployment. The Foresters fought to resist the twin onslaught from the Crown, who owned the Forest, and from businessmen who sought industrial profits from it.
Buy this pamphlet from Tangent Books.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #7
'Race War' - Black American GIs in Bristol and Gloucestershire During World War II
By Neil A. Wynn
America's entry into World War II immediately served to highlight the issue of race relations and the contradictions between America's declared position as a defender of "freedom" and "democracy," and what was actually practiced. Prior to the D-Day landings of June 1944, there were just under 1.6 million American forces personnel located in various parts of the U.K, with the largest numbers gathered in the southwest. The pubs in Bristol were segregated with some serving whites only, others, generally poorer ones, blacks only. As early as 1942 arrangements had been made to seat the races separately in cinemas in Yeovil and Chard. Even fish and chip shops operated on racial lines or used black Wednesdays and white Thursdays.
Find out about the unrest that happened in Gloucestershire and Bristol when a segregated army made camp there.
Neil Wynn is Professor of 20th Century American History at the University of Gloucestershire.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #8
Yesterday's To-morrow - Bristol's Garden Suburbs
By Stephen E. Hunt
In 1909, the Bristol Garden Suburb Limited was set up to implement the ideas Ebenezer Howard popularised in To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Rea Reform, first published in 1898. Garden-City principles inspired promising developments at Shirehampton, Sea Mills and Keynsham chocolate factory, but were diluted in the construction of Bristol's interwar housing estates at Knowle West and Bedminster, Hillfields, Southmead, Horfield, Speedwell and St Annes. Today it's timely to revisit Howard's ideas in the light of several topics of green chatter – transition towns, peak oil and Gordon Brown's intention to promote the construction of eco-towns.
This pamphlet is available from The Architecture Centre, Narrow Quay Bristol, BS1 4QA, 0117 922 1540
Read an articel about this pamphlet in the Bristol Evening Post.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #9
Nicotiana Brittanica - The Cotswolds’ Illicit Tobacco Cultivation In The 17th Century
By By Will Simpson & Jim McNeill
Four centuries ago a group of farmers from the West Of England decided to see if they could make a living for themselves by growing tobacco. This put them at odds with the English state and its imperial ambition to build a merchantile economy driven by indentured and slave labour. This is their story of resistance. Fair-trade home-grown tobacco? Put that in yer pipe and smoke it!
Buy this pamphlet from Tangent Books.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #10
Radical Brewing - Work, Energy, Commoning & Beer
By Steve Stuffit
This is a journey from pre-enclosure herbal brews made by ale-wives to the domination of hops and large breweries. But don't despair, this is a return trip thanks to the rediscovery of commoning and a recipe for nettle and juniper ale.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #11
A Barbarous And Ungovernable People - A Short History Of The Miners Of The Kingswood Forest
By Steve Mills
"A barbarous and ungovernable people" is a bit of a strong condemnation of a community. Especially considering that at the time the community in question was situated on the outskirts of a vibrant city in Britain. The people of Kingswood Forest supplied the south west of England and the industries of Bristol with coal, and it is fair to say that without the Kingswood Forest coal Bristol would not be the city it is today. However, the relationship between the two communities was strained to say the least. This pamphlet tells the story of the misunderstanding and mistrust which, from time to time, blew up into full scale conflagration.
Buy this pamphlet from Tangent Books.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #12
Tolpuddle And Swing - The Flea And The Elephant
By Roger Ball
In 1834, six Dorset farm labourers were tried and condemned to transportation to Australia for joining an early Trade Union. Since then the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' have become an iconic part of modern British History. Three years before the events in Tolpuddle, much of rural England was rocked with a massive uprising of farm labourers known as the 'Swing Riots'. This pamphlet analyses why 'Tolpuddle' has taken its place in the popular memory and the far more significant events of 'Swing' have been distorted and forgotten.
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Bristol Radical Pamphleteer #13
Bristol's White Slave Trade - Indentured and Enforced Labour In The 17th Century
By Andrea Button
Bristol’s role as a supplier of labour to the American and West Indian colonies in the eighteenth century is associated with the African Slave Trade however, this trade was not officially open to the Bristol merchants until 1698. The indentured white servant system, operated in Bristol during the seventeenth century, were used by merchants to meet demand for labour in Britain’s new colonies until the Bristol merchants were legally able to compete in the lucrative transatlantic trade. This pamphlet reveals the extent of this ‘white slavery’ and its links to Bristol.
Buy this pamphlet from Tangent Books.
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