The Verso Book of Dissent: From Spartacus to the Shoe-Thrower of Baghdad [Paperback]

Throughout the ages and across every continent, people have struggled against those in power and raised their voices in protest—rallying others around them and inspiring uprisings in eras yet to come. Their echoes reverberate from Ancient Greece, China and Egypt, via the dissident poets and philosophers of Islam and Judaism, through to the Arab slave revolts and anti-Ottoman rebellions of the Middle Ages. These sources were tapped during the Dutch and English revolutions at the outset of the Modern world, and in turn flowed into the French, Haitian, American, Russian and Chinese revolutions. More recently, resistance to war and economic oppression has flared up on battlefields and in public spaces from Beijing and Baghdad to Caracas and Los Angeles.

This anthology, global in scope, presents voices of dissent from every era of human history: speeches and pamphlets, poems and songs, plays and manifestos. Every age has its iconoclasts, and yet the greatest among them build on the words and actions of their forerunners.The Verso Book of Dissentwill become an invaluable resource, reminding today’s citizens that these traditions will never die.“A delightful anthology to dip into if you are or have ever been disgruntled with the status quo ... for radicals everywhere.”
—Nick Lezard,Guardian

“A very right-on compendium of opposition to authority.”
—Gavin Bowd,Scotland on Sunday

“Reading the [The Verso Book of Dissent] is like encountering the best version of our angry selves.”
—Jonathan Messinger,Time Out Chicago

“A near-definitive anthology.”
—Richard Whittaker,Austin Chronicle

“The anthology’s editors excerpt the writings of a wide array of historical figures, including Socrates ... Martin Luther King ... [and] the Marquis de Sade.”
—Nationall3#