This is a highly creative way of retelling a significant part of history. The author did a tremendous job finding ways to incorporate real life events into fictional characters. It is like watching a documentary series and feeling nostalgic and entertained at the same time.

The pace fits the genre. The first-person point of view is a good choice for this kind of storytelling. The writing style suits a young-adult audience; the book does not bombard with facts and politics, but offers a mix of entertainment and naivety to which youth will relate.

Halfway through, the narrative shifts away from some vital characters that were dwelled on heavily at the story’s start. However, the way in which facts are introduced in a gradual flow, balances that apparent weakness.

I admire how the book talks about a lesser-known point of history. We tend to be familiar with what mainstream media has told us about World War II, but this book highlights one of the precedents of that war. It gives value; it keeps the story alive by sharing it with the next generation. Highly recommended for readers passionate about world history, culture and politics.

After an increase in inquiries regarding dyslexia friendly books, I’ve been keeping an eye out for books to recommend and this one certainly made the list!

The storytelling style is simple yet informative without being too dumbed down and is certainly easy to sit and read in one go! I also feel like the content is still relevant to this day, and contains an important message that I can appreciate as someone whose written multiple academic papers surrounding the creation of the Other and the human!

I think this will be great to recommend to kids who would like something historical that’s a blend of fact and fiction!

Excellent read, so gripping I couldn't put it down. I love this kind of historical fiction!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

This is another excellent book from Tanya Landman and Barrington Stoke. It tells the story of the Battle of Cable Street, an event that took place in 1930s London slum, "Paradise", following the rise in antisemitism when fascist Oswald Mosley came to power. This is a very powerful story of the Battle that resulted from ordinary people standing up to the fascists, for what they believed to be right and is an important part of British history in the lead up to WWII that is uncomfortable to think about and easily ignored.

Superb background to a key event in British history.

I've heard about this seminal event through my East End Jewish grandfather, who was a boy at the time it occured. It was never anything school covered, seeing this title (and the Carnegie-winning author) I knew I'd want to give this a whirl and see how the events would be covered for a young audience.

Explaining National Socialism, Moseley and anti-semitism to young people is not the easiest prospect. Using other young people to do this was a superb idea, as we can then learn along with the characters.

Elsie, her brother, their friends, allow us to join in with their childhood in the East End of London, between the wars, with day-long games and innocent pastimes. When the first of them begins to grow up and move away from them emotionally, Elsie tries to follow. To a blackshirt rally.

Readers get a swift introduction to Elsie's new confusing world, as she sees first-hand what neighbours believe, the attitudes gaining ground, contrasted with her own less biased views. The rally, the new world that the children are forced to live inside, and moving towards the inevitable Battle, it's a true education for a generation that will know nothing about these events and very little about the historical context that allowed them to occur.

I learned something, and would have appreciated this as a teenager. Appropriate, informative, with young protagonists that contemporary readers will still feel a connection with.

For ages 9-14.

This book surprised me. This fictional narrative reads almost like a nonfiction which I think makes the adaptation for this historical event for younger readers work as well as it does. The author does a really good job portraying the realities of how fascism spread throughout Europe, including to countries like Great Britain, during the 1930s. So many people do not realize just how prevalent that horrific ideology became. Using the child/pre-teen perspective just how insidious that ideology was and is.

Based on true historical events, the story follows Elsie, her brother and friends as they navigate the rise of Oswald Mosely and his fascist support in East London. This isn't something that is ever really covered in school (that I am aware of) but it explores the idea that Hitler had support from some circles in the Uk- which is important. In the current climate, it's great to see a children's book address antisemitism, facism, class, inequality, populism and othering politics in a clear but sensitive way through a compelling, age-approriate and engaging narrative. Hats off to Tanya Landman!

CW: antisemitism and violence, handled sensitively. Would recommend to Yr4+, and actually, it could be good for reluctant/struggling readers up to Yr9.

Barrington Stoke are producing some excellent books at present and this look at the rise of Facism in London during the 1930s was gripping and a real page turner.
The writing was engaging and some big ideas were explored but in a simple way that would make this book a good introduction to this period of history for all readers, that it is accessible to those with a lower reading age is just a bonus.

I really enjoyed this one. It's an event I thought I knew about but after reading this I found I didn't know as much as I thought I did. Charting the growth of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s, this built up to the actual clashes of Cable Street and the surrounding area, this managed to convey the often little shifts in peoples attitudes and behaviour realistically, alongside the way these were viewed by the communities. The actual clashes were genuinely gripping, and I loved the characters. The politics are very evident, and the book does read in places as a cautionary tale for our times, but I felt it worked, mainly because it comes across as primarily a story of empowerment and hope. Hate and prejudice can be confronted and can be stopped. a really great read.

Here is my 50 Word Review on The Battle of Cable Street by Tanya Landman. Thank you so much for the ARC.

A short, snappy, well pitched story about a crossroads in British history. Although reading a little like a history lesson at times, the likeable, plucky characters, risking their lives to stand up to fascism light up the pages. Landman does what she does best, giving a voice to forgotten lives.

A new perspective on historic events from award-winning, children’s writer Tanya Landman. Set in Stepney, in London’s East End, in the 1920s and 1930s this is a reimagining of events that led up to the infamous Battle of Cable Street seen through the eyes of a young, Irish-Jewish girl, Elsie. Stepney at that time was home to a large Jewish community and targeted by former politician Oswald Mosley whose antisemitic, fascist organisation, originally titled the British Union of Fascists, had worrying links to Hitler, as well as disturbing levels of support from the British upper classes including, it’s rumoured, members of the royal family. Mosley’s roaming gangs of Blackshirt minions intimidated and harassed Jewish residents, making them fearful for their families and their livelihoods.

Aiming at younger readers, Landman’s style is simple and direct although some of her content seems more suited to slightly older readers. It’s very much story-led, not in itself necessarily bad, but it’s not the most subtle piece at times, and the historical facts and the fictional elements can sometimes seem to clash – so that passages read like thinly-veiled material from a history textbook. But it’s also a very readable tale of lost innocence tempered by bravery and solidarity, as well as a decent introduction to an important chapter in English history. One that some would prefer to forget. Landman’s narrative is also a warning about the dangers of ‘othering’ and the importance of standing up to prejudice and discrimination that, unfortunately, remains timely as the author points out in her afterword.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of the Battle of Cable Street, on October 4th, 1936, Mosley and his supporters planned to march through the heart of Stepney’s Jewish community, local Jewish people, Irish, and Somali residents acted together to stem the progress of Mosley’s supporters by building makeshift barricades along Cable Street. They were joined by antifascist groups from war veterans to young Communists. Despite brutal, pro-fascist police interventions, with officers numbering in their thousands, many on horseback, the antifa groups’ stand worked and they succeeded in heading off Mosley’s hordes.

I read this in one sitting. It was such an accessible read. I really liked the pacing; the way that it took place over a fairly long amount of time but only told you what was necessary to understand the climax.
I also thought that the subject matter was really interesting. As a history student who's particularly interested in this period of history, it was fascinating to learn about a part of history and figures who usually aren't covered in class. It's definitely something I may now go and read more up on.

Yet another winner that deserves all the hype from one of my favourite publishers. What I love about Barrington Stoke's books are how they explore and shed light on important issues in a concise, tactful and engaging manner. The Battle of Cable Street was a greatly enjoyable read with lively characters.

Set in London's Stepney district, this novella focuses on the events leading up to World War 2 in Britain. The setting felt so vivid, with the increasing tension, hostilities and antisemitism being all too real. Seeing how the characters went from having idyllic childhoods to witnessing hate and violence unfold in front their eyes broke my heart.

I also loved how sensitive topics and events are handled with so much care here. Despite being a quick read, I didn't feel like anything was oversimplified or skimmed over. In fact, they were explained in a very effective yet easy-to-understand manner. Even though the book doesn't cover the war itself, it doesn't play down nor glorify it.

Not only does this book provide a lesser-known perspective about Britain's part in the war, it also celebrates the courage of people who stood together, shoulder to shoulder, against racism and antisemitism. I highly recommend it not only to its intended younger audience, but also to adults like myself. Just like what Tanya Landman says in the author's note, The Battle of Cable Street is a significant historical event that many people aren't aware about. Yet it's a crucial part of history that must never be forgotten.

An illuminating, wonderful, important and timeless read all at once.

Landman starts this book with a down-to-earth revelation about the following story. Written from a child's perspective, she discusses the story of Oswald Mosley; how people can be easily influenced; the abuse of power and how everyday individuals can make a stand. Just reading the book will give a lot of enjoyment and excitement but this is also a fantastic starting point for discussion.

Easy to read and gripping.

This was such a beautiful book about a time in British History that is often omitted or glossed over.

Told from the perspective of a young girl, this story follows her and her brother through the last years of childhood as they come to understand that fascism and anti Semitism are not constrained to mainland Europe.in the 1930s.

A well told story suitable for children, teenagers and adults who want a quick, shocking education in the fascism present in the East End of London before the outbreak of the Second World War but also for those wanting to enjoy a story of coming of age and beginning to understand your place in the world.

Back in the 1930s, Britain was not just threatened by the external threats posed by Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy: there was also an internal danger presented by the homegrown menace of the British Blackshirt movement led by Sir Oswald Mosley,, a dangerous and charismatic aristocrat who had previously been a leading figure in both the Conservative and Labour parties. Thankfully, unlike Hitler's Nazis, the British Union of Fascists, despite attracting the support of the traditionally xenophobic Daily Mail newspaper, never achieved significant electoral backing. As this fiction book reminds us, however, they did succeed in spreading fear amongst London's Jewish community, a campaign of bullying, scapegoating and harassment which culminated in the violence of the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.
As with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird or Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief, the narrative of Tanya Landman's novel is made all the more powerful, by viewing these powerful, troubling events through the eyes of a child.

THE BATTLE FOR CABLE STREET follows Elsie as she grows up in the East End of London in the 1920s and 1930s, as Mosley's fascists rose in prominence. It's a story not often told, because it's easier to teach that antisemitism and racism was only an issue elsewhere, rather than here. However, it <em>did</em> also become more "mainstream" here, an important take for now.

This is told through the eyes of a Jewish child seeing hatred grow and come out of the woodwork around her, see friendships break up due to it. And then she becomes involved in major events - the confrontation at a rally in Olympia in 1934 and then the titular Cable Street battle in 1936, where the people of the East End stood up against the police and the home office trying to force them to allow the fascists to march through an area that had a large Jewish and non-white population.

It is a sobering tale, watching the hatred rise, and feels very pertinent right now, and that sobering feel is made all the more powerful for being told through the eyes of a young girl. The language is so evocative, stark in its simplicity. However, it also ends on a hopeful note.

An informative and engaging read about an event from modern history that not enough people know about.

We associate fascism with Hitler's Germany or Mussolini's Italy, but rarely think about the fascism that burgeoned in the 1930's in the UK. This short novel tells the story of the developing political tensions on London streets, with many people supporting racist and anti-semitic ideas -- and police or institutions often looking the other way. Young Elsie, and many others like her, are determined to stand up for what is right, and they engage in subversive resistance and protest -- no matter the cost.

This is yet another winner from historical fiction writer Tanya Landman, whose novels always benefit from meticulous research and engaging characters that bring history to life. It's a Barrington Stoke title, meaning that it is accessible, and also completely absorbing.

At 120 pages, this will be a less daunting read for many teens than other books in the school library, but as with other Barrington Stoke novels, there’s an awful lot of story packed into this slim volume. Landman’s depiction of the East End of London is bleak, and yet her characters are strong and distinctive. Elsie and Mickey are likeable characters: curious, plucky and determined to stand up for what is right. We follow them as they learn about the Blackshirts, attend one of Mosley’s rallys, and help to defend their friends and neighbours in the Battle of Cable Street. As their understanding of the developing situation grows, they take the reader with them towards the novel’s triumphant climax.

I knew very little about Britain’s pre-war fascist uprisings before reading this book, and found its contents both startling and reassuring in equal measure. The subject matter of this novel explores topics covered in the current GCSE History curriculum, and it would be an ideal read for those students wishing to visualise the complicated events in the lead-up to the Second World War: the rise of fascism across Europe and how people responded to the politics of the day. Although the reading age of this novel may be low enough to be accessible to a less-confident reader, the subject matter is probably too harrowing for a younger reader.

‘The Battle of Cable Street’ is well-written and fast-paced. I particularly recommend it for teens with an interest in British history and politics.

Many thanks to NetGalley UK, Barrington Stoke and Tanya Landman for this ARC in return for my honest review.