This is a remarkable account of the unemployed movement in North East England in the two decades between the wars. It covers, in an exceptionally clear and readable fashion, multiple aspects of the struggle against unemployment and against the hostile and inquisitorial attitudes routinely displayed towards the unemployed and their families by the relief authorities. The National Unemployed Workers' Movement in this part of Britain fought not only unsympathetic authority but also hostile police forces - and the fascists when they tried to put in an appearance. The account is solidly researched throughout, using oral history and contemporary documentation from a variety of sources. Don Watson deals thoroughly with the NUWM in the North East and compares it to other unemployed activities and organisations in the area at that time. The book is an original and valuable addition to the social history of the area and to the study of the inter-war unemployed movement in Britain as a whole. Professor Willie Thompson, University of Sunderland