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Taking Liberties
 
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Taking Liberties (Paperback)

by Chris Atkins (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 307 pages
  • Publisher: Revolver Books - A division of Revolver Entertainment Ltd; Film tie-in ed edition (11 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1905978030
  • ISBN-13: 978-1905978038
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 288,582 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Product Description

One of the most important books of our time, "Taking Liberties" tells the story of how New Labour and Tony Blair have systematically demolished the freedoms of the British people, and the devastating effect this has had on the rest of the world. The story is told through the eyes of the ordinary people who have suffered these injustices, from being arrested for holding up a placard outside parliament, to being tortured and abused by the US military with British complicity. Chris Atkins' "Taking Liberties" has become the most explosive film of 2007. For the reader who wants to dig a little deeper than the film, this book asks why our government is removing our fundamental freedoms while claiming to be defending them. Humorous and offbeat in tone, but solidly backed up by interviews with commentators and experts across the spectrum including Henry Porter, Andrew Gilligan, Tony Benn, Boris Johnson, Claire Short, Milan Rai, Martin Bell, Shami Chakrabarti, Rachel North, Julian Petley, Ross Anderson, Kate Allen, Philippe Sands, Michael Mansfield, Mark Thomas and many more, Taking Liberties is an urgent and timely work.


About the Author

Author and Director Chris Atkins is the son of a politics teacher and a theatre producer. Always instilled with a healthy disregard for authority, Chris was ejected from Oxford University for doing pretty much everything that you weren't supposed to do, and then went on to Warwick University where he started a theatre company. After producing and directing a series of hit shows he moved into film, and at the age of 25 teamed up with director Richard Jobson to produce 16 Years of Alcohol, Jobson's debut feature, which got 5 star reviews on its release and a slew of awards. Since then Chris has produced 10 feature films including two more with Richard Jobson, the first being The Purifiers (Britain's first martial arts film) during which Chris spent many happy nights pulling handbrake turns in a sports car around Milton Keynes, and the second A Woman in Winter for which he received a Scottish BAFTA nomination. When Chris discovered that one of his best friends was about to be extradited to America to face 35 years in jail, without any evidence being presented, he dug a little deeper and found an abundance of such stories - of people whose lives have been ruined by the fear and injustice perpetrated by this government. This was the start of a 2-year journey to make the book and the film of Taking Liberties.

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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 (6)
4 star:
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Be shocked, be worried, be angry. Find out what the government is doing in your name. , 14 Jun 2007
Indefinite detention without charge; house arrest under horrendously strict and punitive conditions where there is not enough, perhaps not any, evidence to prosecute; the demonisation of children and the criminalisation of bad behaviour (did you realise you can now be given an on the spot fine for using bad language? What actually qualifies as bad language will depend on how sensitive the policeman/woman who happens to be passing you as you say it is - if they happen to be your granny you're probably in trouble); the erosion of the right to protest; complicity in torture; and a return to eugenics - you better hope your unborn child doesn't fit the government's notion of being likely to pose a future problem to society. As this excellent book makes plain, these are just a few of the things the political establishement has done and continues to do in your name. This book cannot fail to make you angry, and so it should. As a law student I have been a aware of many of these laws for a while, but having them outlined beside one another with there practical implications plain to see, made me realise just what dangerous times we are currently in. The authors are probably correct that politicians have our best interests at heart, but that cannot be a justification for the path which our country and its legal system are being led down. But what is most worrying, is the attitude that so many of us hold, that 'these laws wont affect me' or 'it can't possibly be that bad. For god sake, we're a democracy). Read this book and think again. Tell that to the 87 year old who was given an ASBO for being sarcastic. Tell it to the young girl who landed a criminal record for simply reading out the names of the dead in Iraq, civilians and soldiers, without political comment. Tell it to men who were held for more than two years without charge, without ever being told what evidence the government had against them, and then placed on house arrest when the Law Lords told the government it was breaching their human rights; including one man who was perviously acquitted of the Ricin plot because the prosecution had virtually no evidence against him but whose head the tabloid press demanded. While the book focuses on the erosion of the ancient right to liberty, its analysis suggests that values more generally are taking a back seat to political prudence. This is an unacceptable state of affairs, particularly for a country that so often claims the moral high ground on the international stage. Read this book, be angry and realise that all of us have a respsibility to speak up and take action.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the usual suspects...., 18 Jun 2007
By Barry Tighe "Author The Spawater Chronicles,... (Spawater, Britannicca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
It is famously said of George Orwell that you cannot ask for the time without him pulling out his hankie and weeping about the brutal working conditions in the watch making industry. A great man, heart in the right place, but you would not want to be stuck in a lift with him.
The same goes for many rebels with a cause. They are so obsessed with their hobbyhorse that they miss how boring they are to the average reasonable person.
Chris Atkins, I am delighted to say, is a mile-wide exception. His book, 'Taking Liberties', utilises that underused weapon in the fight against tyranny, humour.
'Taking Liberties' takes liberties with the readers' funnybones, demonstrating that the most appalling attacks on our freedoms have their absurd side. Arrested for reading 'Vanity Fair', arrested for wearing a tee shirt, banned for saying the word 'grass', the list goes on. Chris Atkins uses these absurdities to illustrate the seriously unfunny state of the UK today at the fag end - but don't light it - of Tony Blair's reign.
A major problem for those of us who want to go about our day-to-day business without being spied on, questioned and generally harassed by bureaucracy backed by internment, is that our warnings of trouble ahead only get through to the usual suspects. These are like-minded people who see the way things are going but number not one person in one hundred. We are far too few to matter. What we need is to break out from the usual suspects and reach the mainstream. 'Taking Liberties' is a major step in that direction. This book is not only full of ammunition for the usual suspects, but stands as an interesting, mainstream book in its own right and will make an excellent coffee-table Christmas gift. For those who don't read books, Chris has been good enough to produce it as a film! How considerate is that!
Nothing to hide, nothing to fear? Chris gives the best rebuttal of this argument I have come across. Have you ever sent two emails complaining about something? That is an offence under the Harassment Act.
I am expecting the knock at any moment.
'Taking Liberties' proves that noble causes can be exciting, enlightening and even funny. Its main strength is that it breaks out from the usual suspects and confronts the mainstream. Memo to zealots; should you become interesting you will rock the world.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Vital, 5 Jun 2007
Don't hesitate to buy this book. While perhaps not a call to arms, as such, it is at least a summons to the battlements. It is exactly this kind of literature that will help shape the future of Britain, but only if you read it. Let the politicians know that the real agenda is not schools, hospitals or even terrorism, it is the need to preserve our basic rights. Buy this book, you won't regret it.

The first privilege of a democracy is the freedom to criticise the government.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars a good example of Blair bashing for a change
I would rate this as one of the better `Blair bashing ` books. The Amazon reviews mostly praise this book with one or two calling it over-hyped misleading rubbish. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. J. Hudson

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, witty survey of how this government is eroding the rule of law

This remarkable book shows how the government is undermining the rule of law across many different areas of life. Read more
Published 16 months ago by William Podmore

4.0 out of 5 stars Scathing, well researched and sounding dangerously true
I was genuinely shocked reading this book - at the start it comes across as a bit of a rant about the Blair government and how they have stripped the British population of its... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2007 by Darren Simons

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will make you angry...
.....angry with a government which is erroding our freedoms while we doze away sleeping. This is one hell of a book - and yet all it does is list the things this government has... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2007 by Dr. Philip G. Davies

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit OTT
This is a deeply worrying book. However, if you write a book like this accusing the government of major crimes, you do need to make absolutely certain of your facts. Read more
Published on 22 Jul 2007 by C. E. Carter

2.0 out of 5 stars Shoddy and Self-serving, Liberal use of facts
There are many great books about the erosion of our Liberties. This is not one of them. The book is designed to appeal to those who are unlikely to look into the facts, people who... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2007 by R.Brown

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful vanity project, a waste of time and money
This book is total garbage. Some nobody with loads of money has seemingly self-published this self-indulgent and rubbish book. The guy desperately wants to be famous. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2007 by Mark

5.0 out of 5 stars Fighting for our civil liberty
Excellent book to be read by anyone who is interested in retaining their ancient civil right to protest, to justice, to privacy and to freedom of speech, all of which are being... Read more
Published on 28 May 2007 by Fourth Ray

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