The Angry Brigade

The Angry Brigade (also known as the "Stoke Newington Eight") was a British libertarian communist militant group responsible for a long string of bomb attacks around Britain between 1970 and 1972.

Strongly influenced by anarchism and the Situationists, their targets included banks, embassies and the homes of Tory MPs. In total, 25 bombings were attributed to them by the police. The damage done by the bombings was mostly limited to property damage although one person was slightly injured. The actions of the Brigade came to an end in one of the longest criminal trials of English history (it lasted from 30 May to 6 December 1972). As a result of the trial, John Barker, Jim Greenfield, Hilary Creek and Anna Mendleson received prison sentences of 10 years. A number of other defendants were found not guilty, including Stuart Christie, who had previously been imprisoned in Spain for carrying explosives with the intent to assassinate the dictator Francisco Franco, and Angela Mason, who went on to become director of Stonewall, the LGBT pressure group, director of the UK government's Women and Equality Unit and who was awarded an OBE in 1999.

Further reading

* "The Angry Brigade 1967-1984: Documents and Chronology", Bratach Dubh Anarchist Pamphlets, 1978. Available online (see below)
* "Anarchy in the UK: The Angry Brigade", Tom Vague, AK Press, 1997, ISBN 1-873176-98-8
* "Granny Made me an Anarchist: General Franco, The Angry Brigade and Me", Stuart Christie, Scribner, 2004
* "The Angry Brigade: A history of Britain's first urban guerilla group", Gordon Carr, John Barker, Stuart Christie, 1975 (reissued 2005) ISBN 0-9549507-3-9

ee also

*Black Mask
*King Mob
*Movement 2 June
*Weather Underground

External links

* [http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=307737035&channel=219646953&lineup=281859611 The Angry Brigade Documentary]
* [http://libcom.org/ Libertarian community and organising resource] . Libertarian communism and anarchism in the UK
* [http://recollectionbooks.com/siml/library/AngryBrigade/ Angry Brigade: Documents and Chronology, 1967-1984]
* [http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/anarchyuk.htm John Barker's review of Tom Vague's "Anarchy in the UK: the Angry Brigade"]
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/life/story/0,6903,643923,00.html Look back in anger] (An article by The Observer on the 30th Anniversary of their trial)
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/politica/2004/apr/interview_stuart_christie.html Interview with Stuart Christie] (3:AM Magazine)
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/resistance-as-its-own-reward/ Interview with John Barker] (3:AM Magazine)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/12/newsid_2523000/2523465.stm British minister's home bombed] (BBC 'On This Day' article)
* [http://www.spunk.org/texts/groups/agb/sp000540.txt Timeline of actions] (spunk.org)