Freedom’s Banner: How peaceful demonstrations have changed the world

“A brilliant analysis… Made me want to take to the streets as well as the courts.”

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Chair of JUSTICE

“Written with passion… Triumphant.” Professor Bill Bowring, University of London

“At a time when freedom is being trampled in Ukraine and Russia, Freedom’s Banner tells an inspiring story.” Marcus Ferrar, author of The Fight for Freedom: Triumphs and Defeats

The first and definitive global history of non-violent protest. Starting in the 18th Century, Freedom’s Banner provides a tour of some of humanity’s most seminal moments, from the Peterloo Massacre to the suffragette movement to Gandhi’s Salt March, Martin Luther King, Ukraine’s ‘Revolution of Dignity’, the tragedy in Tiananmen Square, and the Hong Kong protests of 2016 and 2019.

More than just a retelling of events, this book traces the thread of influence that each act of protest exerted over the ones to follow. Themes are highlighted and the hard-won legal victories explained. Passionate, provocative, and meticulously researched, this is a book that both inspires and informs.

Paul Harris is a leading human rights barrister, who has defended high profile clients from London to Colombia, Nepal and East Timor. He represented Brian Haw, who for many years successfully maintained the right to camp on London’s Parliament Square in protest at Western foreign policy and the Iraq war. More recently, he has represented the Chagos Islanders in their quest to return home. In 2021 he was elected Chair of the Hong Kong Bar Association.