The details of this years Radical History Zone at the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair have finally been thrashed out and the details release to the world. This year we have 10 stalls, 5 talks, some poetry and a puppet show.

To wet the appetite before the big day we have an extra event the day before the bookfair (Friday 6th May). Gabriel Kuhn will be giving a talk on his new book Soccer Vrs. The State at Easton Community Centre from 19:30. Also, don’t forget that there is a KIPTIK film showing on Wednesday 4th May 7.30pm at Hamilton House.

To celebrated the arrival in Bristol of Los Autonomos, an anarchist  Brasilian football team, on Monday 2nd August 2010 the Easton Cowboys & Cowgirls will be hosting a discussion featuring David Goldblatt.

Topics will include the world cup just passed, the next world cup to be held in Brasil and international fan culture. There will also be cheap Brasilian food and cocktails. From 7:30pm at the Stag and Hound at the bottom of Old Market.

Monday 31st May, 7:30pm at Bristol West Indies Rose Green Centre, 65 Gordon Road, BS5 7DR

With David Goldblatt

The World Cup Finals, now 80 years old, attracts the biggest television audience of any global event. In an era of globalization, it is, if only for a month every four years, the closest we come to imagining and being a global community. It’s the kind of audience no state, no political movement can turn down and since the Uruguayans celebrated the centenary of national independence by hosting the 1930 tournament, politics has been in play at every game. David Goldblatt (author of The Ball Is Round) will explore the political history and cultural meanings of the World Cup and look forward to what we might expect when the 2010 tournament kicks off in South Africa in June.

Accompanied by a film of the 1938 World Cup.

More details.

FA Cup Semi Final Day
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest
15 April 1989
At Hillsborough

This April is the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough football disaster which killed 96 Liverpool fans and injured hundreds more. 20 years on, few people know what actually happened and the (now admitted) lies told by the Police to the press at the time remain many people’s memory of events. The coroner and the inquiry narrowly restricted their investigations. Numerous Judges have thwarted attempts by the survivors, families and campaign groups to have the events investigated. Injunctions event prevent people from speaking about certain aspects of the day.

Bristol Radical History Group welcomes Sheila Coleman, David Goldblatt and Daniel Bennett to give witness evidence of what actually happened, to explore the football-political context in which it took place and the legal struggles which followed.

Sheila Coleman has been involved in researching the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster since 1989. As a member of the Hillsborough Project she monitored the legal proceedings arising from the disaster and co-authored the first critical analysis of the events. Sheila is an active member of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.

David Goldblatt, best selling author of acclaimed The Ball is Round a global history of football, covers in his book the Home Office instructions to the Police to herd all football fans from the station to the stadium, where they should be held in pens.

Daniel Bennett, was a witness to the event from the stands. His witness statement is on the HJC website, which is hosted on a server in Holland due to an injunction preventing its publication in the UK.
Monday 20th April 2009, at The Cube From 7:30pm.