Peace: 50 Years of Protest
By Barry Miles
ISBN-10: 0762108932
ISBN-13: 978-0762108930
Hardcover, 256 pages
April 10, 2008
Readers Digest
Reviewed by Cynthia Murphy for Breeni Books


Barry Miles’s new book, Peace: 50 Years of Protest, is a fascinating look at the history of the peace sign. On the surface the idea of an entire book about the peace sign sounds crazy and maybe a bit boring, but this book is anything but boring. It is a well-researched, thought-provoking work about one of the most recognized symbols of our time.

Author Barry Miles was chairman of the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the early 1960s, and his ensuing passion for peace is evident throughout the book. He begins his look at the peace movement with the events that sparked worldwide fear- the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan at the end of World War II. The bombings ushered in the atomic age and newfound fears of impending nuclear war. The photos from the bombings are striking and frightening. Miles includes graphic eyewitness accounts and disturbing photographs of the survivors. As the rest of the world rushed to develop other weapons of mass destruction, groups of people around the world began to worry about the future. The looming threat of nuclear war inspired people to band together to protest the development of nuclear weapons.

One of the leading groups in the new wave of protestors was Great Britain’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). CND led a massive protest march on Easter Sunday 1958. The march went from London to the nuclear arms plant at Aldermaston. In preparation for the march, CND tapped one of its volunteers, a graphic artist named Gerald Holtom, to create a symbol that could be easily recreated for signs, banners, etc. Holtom’s design is what we now know as the peace sign. His creation was a carefully-designed symbol influenced by British semaphore, medieval symbolism, and ancient runes. The symbol was not designed to represent peace; its focus was the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Holtom explained some of the design in this way: “First the semaphore initials for N and D. Second, the broken cross meant the death of man, the circle the unborn child. It represent the threat of nuclear weapons to all mankind, and because this was new, the threat to the unborn child.”

The CND symbol was never copyrighted, and it became the official symbol of only two groups- CND and the Greek Committee of 100. Yet the symbol quickly spread throughout North America as a symbol of disarmament in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Holtom’s design became known as the peace sign in the late 1960s when hippies used it in their protests against the Vietnam War. The peace sign was adopted by many groups over the years. It has been used worldwide in protests against nuclear weapons, war, civil rights, women’s rights, and various other causes. In recent years, many protestors have used the peace sign in their protests against the war in Iraq.

Peace: 50 Years of Protest is a visually stunning book. It features incredible photographs of both major movements and smaller grassroots efforts. Each chapter features either a biography of an important activist or a look at how pop culture influenced public opinion at the time. These additional bits of information help the reader see the big picture. Miles has also sprinkled inspiring quotations about peace throughout the book. These quotations are set against the striking photography, and the effect is intense.

Peace: 50 Years of Protest is definitely worthwhile reading for anyone interested in the idea of world peace. It may even inspire some of the cynics out there who dismiss the concept as just a sentimental ideal. The overall effect is bittersweet. After fifty years of protest, there is still a need for Holtom’s symbol and everything it represents.