Trafalgar Square: emblem of empire

Rodney Mace, Lawrence and Wishart, 388 pages, paperback, £19.99

Most Labour Research readers will have demonstrated in Trafalgar Square in the course of their lives. The square has historically been a contested space for the labour movement - the venue for political demonstrations and attempts by governments to ban them.

Chartist meetings were immediately banned when the square opened in 1848. The ban held until the 1880s when the Social Democratic Federation started to hold protests there. On "Black Monday", 6 February 1886, there was a major protest over unemployment, which led to a riot in Pall Mall.

In more recent years the square has witnessed demonstrations for peace and against nuclear weapons. Throughout the 1980s there were anti-apartheid protests outside South Africa House. And who can forget the Poll Tax riot in 1990 and anti-war demonstrations against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This book tells this history and much else about the square. A very enjoyable read.