Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament - (Short Histories) by Martin Shaw

About the Book

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) began in 1957 with a small group of public figures and grew into a mass movement. Martin Shaw details CND's rise, the activists involved, the tensions around direct action, and the culture and social groups that the campaign mobilized to "ban the bomb".

Book Synopsis

The launch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958 signalled the first modern protest movement in Britain. Martin Shaw details CND's rise, the activists involved, the tensions with the Committee of 100 around direct action, and the culture, radicalism and social groups that were mobilized to "ban the bomb".

The book discusses how a new movement in the 1980s, led by European Nuclear Disarmament and the Greenham women's peace camp, helped remove cruise missiles from Europe and end the Cold War. It examines how the campaign influenced - and was influenced by - antiwar movements from Vietnam to Iraq and Gaza, as well as the environmental and women's movements.

As the nuclear threat returns in the 2020s, this study shows that the antinuclear movement's ideas and the non-violent direct action it pioneered still reverberate in the campaign against the UK's "nuclear deterrent" - and in protest movements from Stop the War to Extinction Rebellion.

Review Quotes

As a sociologist and an activist who has participated in many of the campaigns discussed in this book, Martin Shaw is exceptionally well-qualified to write what will surely become the definitive history of CND. Using a wealth of newly available materials and with access to some of the key players, Shaw moves expertly across the decades, dissecting the successes and failures of those who have sought to rid Britain and the world of the threat of nuclear destruction. A key strength of the book lies in Shaw showing not only how CND was part of a wider transnational antinuclear movement, but also what CND contributed to this wider struggle. Some of his interpretations are controversial, not least the role he ascribes to CND and END in ending the Cold War, but they are all persuasively argued here. An impressive intellectual achievement.--Nicholas J. Wheeler, Professor of International Relations, University of Birmingham

This whirlwind tour of CND's history provides an accessible account of the political context, campaigning dynamics and significant impact of Britain's most enduring mass movement. Taking in key stops like Aldermaston, Greenham Common, Vietnam and Iraq, Shaw tells the story of this powerful grass-roots movement and brings it right up to date - as it continues to fight for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Well worth a read.--Kate Hudson, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Shaw expertly synthesizes over 75 years of anti-nuclear protests and resistance into one compelling, highly readable, short history. The result is the single best survey of the anti-nuclear movement in Britain, told judiciously by one of its long-term participants and a respected scholar of international relations.--Christopher R. Hill, Associate Professor of History, University of South Wales

Martin Shaw's excellent book is the first comprehensive study of the multi-faceted and complex movement of opposition to nuclear weapons: it is informed, reflective and reliable, drawing on a range of sources, and judicious in its analysis. It is, moreover, well written and readable.--Richard Taylor, Emeritus Professorial Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been at the centre of anti-nuclear protest in the UK for six decades. Martin Shaw has written a stimulating, balanced and comprehensive account of its remarkable history - something we all need to know about if we are to find ways to act in the face of renewed nuclear dangers including explicit nuclear threats, the unravelling of nuclear arms control, and the development of new generations of nuclear weapons.--Mary Kaldor, Director, Conflict Research Programme, London School of Economics

About the Author

Martin Shaw is Emeritus Professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex, a Research Professor at IBEI in Barcelona, and has written widely on war, genocide, social movements and British politics. He was involved in the peace movement of the 1980s, in both CND and European Nuclear Disarmament, as well as the student and Vietnam War movements of the 1960s.