Riot City: Protest and Rebellion in the Capital

Riot City: Protest and Rebellion in the Capital

Cover of the first edition
Author	Clive Bloom
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Politics of London, protest movements, political activism
Set in	London
Published	Basingstoke
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date	2012
Media type	Print
Pages	185
ISBN	9781137029355
Dewey Decimal	303.6230942109051

Riot City: Protest and Rebellion in the Capital is a 2012 book by British academic, broadcaster and author, Clive Bloom. The book deals with the history of protest movements in London and political radicalism in the capital.

Background

Clive Bloom is an Emeritus Professor of English and American studies at Middlesex University. The book examines the rebellion in the city, particularly examining radical political movements. It investigates Occupy London, the 2010 United Kingdom student protests alongside historic movements. Bloom writes that 'protest is the raw and vital edge of being a Londoner'.^[1]

Reception

Riot City was welcomed by political activist Peter Tatchell, who described it as 'a brilliant documentation, analysis, and commentary on the recent wave of popular protest'. Danny Kruger, a former speechwriter to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom remarked 'There is another London hiding behind the Olympics, the jubilee, the palaces and the stadiums - the London of riot and rebellion. Bloom takes us on a breathtaking tour of the politics of disorder, showing what happens, and why, when the battle for progress turns violent'. Chris Gilson, from the London School of Economics and Political Science wrote that the book was a 'timely work',^[2] while the book was also reviewed in the Financial Times,^[1] and The Spectator.^[3]

References