“The greatest pleasure in writing this book, was meeting so many lovely, incredibly dedicated people,” says Martin. “I am in awe of what they have given and what they have achieved.”

‘How Long Shall These Things Be?’ captures the voices of many of the inspirational people fighting to improve the lives of animals across all areas of exploitation. Whether liberating animals, investigating factory farms, standing in front of hunters, spreading the word through outreach, using the law to block factory farms, or buying and rewilding dairy land, there are plenty of heroes out there. And they need you to stand with them.

The story starts in the formative years of the 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s, when direct action complemented the rise of today’s mainstream charities. Firebombing, mass animal liberations, hunt sabbing and even gravedigging were among the grassroots tactics.

The protestors were often sent to prison and, on a few tragic occasions, lost their lives. This book carries their stories and many that have followed, including those out there today on the front line, often putting their physical and mental health at risk for a cause that they cannot let go.

The author, Martin Whybrow, speaks to pioneers, the NGOs, today’s grassroots campaigners, and those devising new tactics. He reports from the factory farms to the protest camps, from the countryside ravaged by hunting and the badger cull to street protests.

It is a story of giants. “The greatest pleasure in writing this book, was meeting so many lovely, incredibly dedicated people,” says Martin. “I am in awe of what they have given and what they have achieved.” For all the ingrained cruelty that remains, there have been incredible victories and there is real cause for hope that societal change is on the way.

The title stems from an inscription on a statue put up in Battersea Park, London, in 1906 of a small dog, ‘done to death’ in a university laboratory after enduring two months of vivisections. It asked: ‘Men and Women of England How Long Shall These Things Be?’

All profits from this book are going to the causes that are covered within its pages.