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1994 the author revealed, for the first time, the astonishing
lengths to which the Conservative government and its secret
services were prepared to go to destroy the power of Britain's
miners' union. This edition has been updated for the 20th
anniversary of the Miners' Strike.
All Customer Reviews
5 out of 5 - Aug 30, 2004
When newspapers pronounce the guilt of a high
profile figure, they splash the story across the front-page.
When it later transpires that the story is false, they may
occasionally print a retraction or correction - but they usually
"stick it inside somewhere" at the bottom of a page.
This excellent book provides a thorough account
of the real truth behind the smear campaign of the early 1990's
directed against the National Union of Miners and Arthur Scargill
in particular. A campaign with one goal, but many players
- the media, the Tory government and the security services
- the objective of which was to follow through Margaret Thatcher's
aim of ensuring the coal miners (and unions in general) would
never again be in a position where they might hold the country
to ransom, or bring down a government.
Seumas Milne's updated and exhaustive work exposes
the truth, once and for all, about a campaign that ultimately
failed because it was based on a foundation of lies and misinformation.
Milne only touches on the strike itself, and
twenty years on there is a real need for a similarly exhaustive
study of the 84-85 miners strike to accompany this book (hopefully
written by an correspondingly impartial observer), so that
students and historians can in the future, fully understand
the lasting significance of these events.
The book itself in extremely well written and
makes easy reading. If I have one criticism, it would be regarding
Milne's explanation of the truth about the "Libyan money".
The point is clearly made quite early on, but reiterated and
re-explained too often afterwards.
Forget Michael Moore's rants about the corruption
and lies in the US: read this book and discover some home
truths about those that we entrust with our money, our lives
and our security in this country.
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