Housmans
radical booksellers
since 1945
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PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE
This section is a key part of the Housmans stock. The origins of Housmans are in the peace movement (and especially the pacifist end of the peace movement), though of course we carry a very wide range of radical, alternative and political literature - after all, part of the pacifist philosophy is to be non-sectarian and to encourage the widest range of debate and discussion. The peace section includes books (and pamphlets) dealing with all aspects of peace and anti-war campaigning - both against war in general and relating to specific wars - as well as texts dealing with disarmament, and with nonviolent approaches to conflict prevention and conflict resolution. We also have some material looking at "strategic thinking" at a governmental level, and there are many items dealing with particular sorts of weaponry - especially nuclear weapons. Coverage includes the philosophy, the practice and the history of anti-war campaigning and of both pacifist and non-pacifist peace movements. Key theoreticians and practitioners of nonviolence and nonviolent action, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, are well represented in terms of writings both by them and about them. We also have texts on the theory and practice of nonviolent action (including both direct action and civil disobedience) which cover actions in connection with other issues besides just anti-war campaigning; and we have material dealing with pacifist communities and nonviolent lifestyles. Since this section is so much a speciality for us, and since many of the classic texts are long out of print, then - in order to provide the widest range of relevant material - we have included many secondhand books, where we can no longer obtain new copies of the title concerned. (The range and number of these old books is regularly expanding: there are always new acquisitions waiting to be classified and displayed.) These books are integrated with the new books in the sorting of material on the shelves. This is the only major category of the shop's stock where our shop display, and the associated booklist, have significant amounts of secondhand stock integrated in this way. The shop's normal practice is for any secondhand items to be organised separately from the main stock. The lists for this section of the shop's stock show the vast majority of the titles that we currently have on display in this field. The section is subdivided (on both the shelves and the website) to help users find their way around the hundreds of titles that we have available. See the list of categories below, with links to the individual lists. But please be aware that the rate of turnover of this stock means that we can't guarantee that the lists here are always fully up-to-date day by day. In the case of the older books, once sold they often can't be re-sourced - so if you want anything of this sort, you should order it quickly. And for this reason, it's always best to call into the shop in person if you can, then you also get to see the latest titles, which (similarly) might not yet be shown here. (Note that we don't at the moment have a full list of the very extensive range of pamphlets which relate to this section of the shop - although we have included a few of the more significant ones in these listings, and on the shelves, in the relevant sections of the book stock. Yet another reason to visit and browse!) We hope that these lists will be increasingly valuable as a source of information, as well as helping you to find lots of books you want to buy from Housmans. The subdivision of the peace section's books into 19 categories is broadly defined as follows, but you should also see the notes at the start of each individual list for a fuller explanation of what is included. Where appropriate, a book might be shown under more than one of these categories. In particular, titles in the list of recommended books, and in the list of recent publications, will normally also be listed under the relevant topic. Key/recommended texts New and recent publications Topic 1: Pacifism and nonviolence Topic 2: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, etc Topic 3: Peace education Topic 4: Peace research Topic 5: Women and peace Topic 6: Lifestyles and religious Topic 7: Disarmament, arms race Topic 8: Nuclear and other WMDs Topic 9: Arms trade Topic 10: Specific wars Topic 11: "Terrorism" [Classification not yet available] Topic 12: Peace movement history Topic 13: Miscellaneous topics Topic 14: General peace issues Topic 15: Relevant fiction and poetry Topic 16: Journals [Classification not yet available] Topic 17: Reference [Classification not yet available] USERS PLEASE NOTE: The classification of the shop's extensive stock in this section is still continuing. Some of the lists here are incomplete - indeed, in the case of some topics no list at all has yet been loaded onto this website.