Diane Frost – författare

This collection of essays identifies a neglected but significant component of Britain's maritime and labour history, that of ethnic labour drawn from Britain's colonies in West Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The interdisciplinary nature of the volume raises a number of important issues: race and ethnicity, colonialism and migration, social class and the complex nature of racial hostility meted out by organized white labour.

In July 1981 a series of street disturbances that took place in the Liverpool 8 area of the city put Liverpool at the forefront of events that also rocked other communities as far away as Brixton and Birmingham. After four days of riots, 150 buildings had been burnt down and countless shops looted, 258 police needed hospital treatment and 160 people had been arrested. Six weeks later, when the disturbances died down, 781 police officers had been injured and 214 police vehicles damaged. Few of the injuries to the rioters were officially recorded but some came to public attention with powerful consequences.Published to mark the 30th anniversary of what became known nationally as ‘the Toxteth Riots,’ Liverpool ’81 draws together memories of and responses to the 1981 riots from the people who were there. The book explores why the riots took place and what their consequences and legacies have been for Liverpool. It goes on to ask what has become of the people and places most directly affected by the riots – Black and Minority Ethnic communities, and residents of what were then labelled Inner Cities, not just in Liverpool but further afield – and how these communities have reacted to and moved on over the past 30 years.Combining fascinating interviews with rioters, police and community leaders with never before published photographs, Liverpool 81 tells the story of one of the most explosive summers in recent British history.All royalties from this book will be donated to the Merseyside Black History Month Group Ltd initiative.

In May 1983, in the wake of her victory in the Falklands, Mrs Thatcher won the second of her three general election victories. Liverpool, going not for the first or last time against the grain, elected a Labour council that vowed to be different. In an environment of mass unemployment in which Liverpool felt abandoned by an indifferent government, the council resolved to join others across the land in refusing to set a budget that would hurt the poorest. It was at first wildly popular, but the scene soon became set for a battle between the city and central government that would shape the future of Liverpool.Published to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the 1983 election, Militant Liverpool: A City on the Edge sets out an even-handed assessment of events with oral testimonies from many of the key protagonists. Thirty years on, Liverpool has to some extent reinvented itself as a visitor destination, but it is again facing major spending cuts while its deep seated social problems remain. This book sheds new light on what is for some a dark period in the city’s past, best forgotten, while for others is a memory of the city that refused to lie down and die and a continuing inspiration.