Margaret Thatcher branded Arthur Scargill and the other leaders of the 1984-5 miners' strike ;'the enemy within'. With the publication of this bestselling book a decade later, the full irony of that accusation became clear. There was an enemy within. But it was not the National Union of Mineworkers that was out to subvert liberty. It was the secret services of the British state - operating inside the NUM itself. Seumas Milne revealed for the first time the astonishing lengths to which the government and its intelligence machine were prepared to go to destry the power of Britain's miners' union. Using phoney bank deposits, staged cash drops, forged documents, agents provocateurs and unrelenting surveillance, MI5 and police Special Branch set out to discredit Scargill and other miners' leaders. Planted tales of corruption were seized on by the media and both Tory and Labour politicians in what became an unprecedentedly savage smear campaign. In this new edition, published for the twentieth anniversary of Britain's most important postwar social confrontation, new material brings the story up to date - and, in the wake of the Iraq war intelligence scandals, highlights the continuing threat posed by the security services to democracy today.
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"A real-life thriller." - Evening Standard "One of the most remarkable demolition jobs ever." - Spectator "A tribute to detailed journalistic investigation ... strips away the myths and lies." - New Statesman "An astonishing book." - The Nation "Riveting. It knocks spots off the usual 'whodunnit'" - Guardian
About the Author
Seumas Milne is the Comment Editor and a columnist for the Guardian. He was previously the Guardian's Labour Editor and a staff journalist on The Economist. He is a joint winner of the "What the Papers Say" scoop of the year award and co-author of Beyond the Casino Economy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By S Wood
Format:Paperback
Seamus Milnes book takes as it's starting point the 1990 Daily Mirror/Cook Report "scoop" regarding Arthur Scargill and his National Union of Mineworkers associate Peter Heathfield. They were accused of embezzling monies to pay off their mortgages from donations made by Libyan Trade Unionists during the 1984-85 Miners Strike. The story led to Scargill and Heathfield being subjected to a number of lawsuits from their own Trade Unions executive, as well as a variety of Government bodies, investigations by the Inland Revenue and the Serious Fraud Office and left Scargills reputation in tatters. After months of official investigations, it turned out that the accusations were entirely false: one didn't have a mortgage, the other had paid his off out of his savings. Not only that, but the one person who had been involved in fraud (not counting the then Daily Mirror proprietor Robert Maxwell who enthusiastically supported the false claims) was the Daily Mirrors and the Cook Reports single source: Roger Windsor, the leading non-elected officer of the NUM through-out the Miners Strike of 1984-85. The information that Milne collated for this book strongly suggests that Roger Windsor was an informer, or agent, for the security services whose head of Trade Union espionage during the Miners Strike was Stella Rimmington, later to be the first female head of MI5.
Milne goes beyond debunking the smear campaign against Scargill and Heathfield to looking at a variety of other issues surrounding the Miners Strike. The activities of the Media, the Conservative Party, the right-wing of the Labour Party, MI5, a disparate bunch of right wing loons (not to be confused with MI5!... Read more ›
Milne goes beyond debunking the smear campaign against Scargill and Heathfield to looking at a variety of other issues surrounding the Miners Strike. The activities of the Media, the Conservative Party, the right-wing of the Labour Party, MI5, a disparate bunch of right wing loons (not to be confused with MI5!... Read more ›
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Gwynfor
Format:Paperback
The only thing about reading this book is that it will raise blood pressure and make you angry.This book is a must especially with whats going on in the UK now .If you ever wondered what extent the ruling classes will go to to protect their position this book will show you.
Please buy two copies and pass one on...
Please buy two copies and pass one on...
70 of 78 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
When newspapers pronounce the guilt of a high profile figure, they splash the story across the front-page. When it later transpires that the story is false, they may occasionally print a retraction or correction - but they usually "stick it inside somewhere" at the bottom of a page.
This excellent book provides a thorough account of the real truth behind the smear campaign of the early 1990's directed against the National Union of Miners and Arthur Scargill in particular. A campaign with one goal, but many players - the media, the Tory government and the security services - the objective of which was to follow through Margaret Thatcher's aim of ensuring the coal miners (and unions in general) would never again be in a position where they might hold the country to ransom, or bring down a government.
Seumas Milne's updated and exhaustive work exposes the truth, once and for all, about a campaign that ultimately failed because it was based on a foundation of lies and misinformation.
Milne only touches on the strike itself, and twenty years on there is a real need for a similarly exhaustive study of the 84-85 miners strike to accompany this book (hopefully written by an correspondingly impartial observer), so that students and historians can in the future, fully understand the lasting significance of these events.
The book itself in extremely well written and makes easy reading. If I have one criticism, it would be regarding Milne's explanation of the truth about the "Libyan money". The point is clearly made quite early on, but reiterated and re-explained too often afterwards.
Forget Michael Moore's rants about the corruption and lies in the US: read this book and discover some home truths about those that we entrust with our money, our lives and our security in this country.
31 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this revealing book primarily to improve my facts of an event which happened when I was about 10 years old. My only real memories of the stike were images on the TV of police and miners clashing at picket lines.
What this book reveals is that even the reports I watched on the TV were 'spliced' to show the miners attacking the police first.
This must read covers dodgy legal professionals, machiavellian MPs, even shadier journalists, moles, and the unaccountability of MI5 which makes worrying reading.
Whilst explaining the important events of the 'conflict' Milne's remarkable work leads us through a modern history lesson of the current pathetic state of British politics, the fact there is no real difference between New Labour and the Tories. Unfortunatley the miners strike helped many different organisations to exorcise the Right's nemesis, powerful trade unions and has taken away the mouthpiece of the working man and woman.
The style of writing is top class and facts are presented in an easily digestible fashion.
What this book reveals is that even the reports I watched on the TV were 'spliced' to show the miners attacking the police first.
This must read covers dodgy legal professionals, machiavellian MPs, even shadier journalists, moles, and the unaccountability of MI5 which makes worrying reading.
Whilst explaining the important events of the 'conflict' Milne's remarkable work leads us through a modern history lesson of the current pathetic state of British politics, the fact there is no real difference between New Labour and the Tories. Unfortunatley the miners strike helped many different organisations to exorcise the Right's nemesis, powerful trade unions and has taken away the mouthpiece of the working man and woman.
The style of writing is top class and facts are presented in an easily digestible fashion.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Aesop
Format:Paperback
Having grown up in a town in the heart of the Derbyshire coalfield, this book provided a fascinating insight into what really went on behind the Government orchestrated media campaign of the strike.
This book leaves us in no doubt that the powers that be are constantly at work in order to "protect us" from what they will tell us are threats, but really they are just removing what they perceive as a threat to their power. Shouldn't be such a surprise!
This book brings into sharp focus the main players in the campaign against the miners leaders and continues to engage the reader even when the events take complex turns. A fascinating read - well worth a look.
This book leaves us in no doubt that the powers that be are constantly at work in order to "protect us" from what they will tell us are threats, but really they are just removing what they perceive as a threat to their power. Shouldn't be such a surprise!
This book brings into sharp focus the main players in the campaign against the miners leaders and continues to engage the reader even when the events take complex turns. A fascinating read - well worth a look.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
an antidote to the thatcher myths
Very detailed analysis of thatcher and her backers dealings with the unions in the 80's.I dont suppose much has changed over the years. Read more
Published 1 month ago by bucky
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book called Thatcher's Secret War Against the Miners
Superb book, came on time for my husband's birthday, well packaged and at a very reasonable price, would recommend it to anyone
Published 1 month ago by Barbara davenport
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read....
Whether your a political person or not, this is a must read for an enquiring mind.If you lived through the 80's when events in the book where current or you of generation that... Read more
Published 1 month ago by SIMON JAMES
1.0 out of 5 stars
Drivvle
An utterly blinkered and skewed version of events. What was the Thatcher government, or any other government supposed to do? Read more
Published 3 months ago by lance szary
5.0 out of 5 stars
I have read many books on the strike...
and this is right up there with the best. Would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.
Published 3 months ago by BeverleyC
1.0 out of 5 stars
Garbage
A lot of rubbish. If you want to buy some one-sided propaganda that bigs up the can never do wrong unions this is for you. I prefer my history to be factual.
Published 5 months ago by hugo
1.0 out of 5 stars
How we forget
Just focus on what the miners did in the 1970's , my vote goes for a government not for a leadership of a union elected by a minority of the electorate to run a workers... Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2011 by Terry Barker
2.0 out of 5 stars
An opportunity missed
I was very disappointed that Mr Milne's very obvious political bias stopped an objective analysis of a very interesting series of events. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by J. D. Dunkley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ian King
A well written and interesting book. Needs to be read along with other accounts of the strike to get a full picture of events.
Published on 4 Oct 2009 by I. King
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE ENEMY WITHIN
This book tells the truth about the great strike and how the establishment plotted against the working class and the miners who wanted nothing more than to keep there jobs pits and... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2009 by Mr. M. J. Goodman
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