London's Pirate Pioneers: The illegal broadcasters who changed British radio

The book brought back a lot of memories - as an active pirate radio listener and legalisation campaigner from around 1983-90 many of the details were familiar to me but I learned a lot more about what had gone before. The political and social commentary provides helpful context for anyone who wasn't there. Nowadays the vastly increased number of stations, smart speakers, streaming, internet radio and podcasts have fragmented the audience - it's hard to envisage any new station now having the impact that Sovereign, Jackie, DBC/JBC, Horizon, Solar, LWR or Kiss had in their heyday.

Very good story about the life and times of the different Land-based Pirate radio stations that helped to bring commercial radio to the British and Dutch public, Radio that everyone has enjoyed since the early1960's. These were heavy Portable Pirate Radio stations using transmitters and equipment, built and operated by15 year old children..!!

Got this to help with some background for a essay I’m doing. I remember lots of pirate radio in the 70s through to 90s. I even catered for KissFm part at Dingwalls, Camden when they became legal. Few friends who were involved in other stations mentioned also . So great memories and going to be used a lot.

An interesting, well-written book looking at the history, and the changing face, of LBPs (Land Based Pirates) in London. Refreshingly, as well as the larger stations such as Radio Jackie, smaller operations are also mentioned including Radio Neptune. Yes, all these stations were illegal but some laws need to be changed. Witness the doyenne of the Suffragettes, Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst! And the people who fought to decriminalise gay men. This might not be a book that you will read from cover to cover in one go, but it’s an excellent reference work. Highly recommended.

Great for anyone involved in or has an interest in the pioneering land base pirate Radio scene.

I was there! I get a number of mentions in the book (under my pseudonym), and will have to write to the author to correct a number of factual errors and inaccuracies.As a history of a movement, it tells the larger story quite well. However, the finer details are a little suspect in places.There's insufficient content about the technological innovation and invention that went on to avoid detection by the authorities. There was some truly brilliant engineering involved, created by real engineers who were properly educated in the finer points of RF design, not like the crop of stupid solder-jockeys that arose in the 90s, copying our old designs without any understanding of what they were doing. Some of the technological stunts we pulled were remarkable, and very few of them made it into the book, alas.There's also insufficient explanation of the involvement of the heavier criminal element in the late 80s and early 90s "rave" stations. That's when the happy hippies like me got out of building gear for stations, and made sure that we were un-contactable - I moved house, changed phone numbers (a number of times) and even changed my full time occupation to avoid the people I no longer wished to associate with! In the end, I moved out of London...Also - there's rather too much credit given to the wrong people. Many of the real innovators remain anonymous!

A work of immense research. Highly detailed catalogue of London's Pirate Radio stations and personnel, with some nice anecdotes. Some of the station's had maybe 200 listeners at any one time, I know, I was one of them! Must have taken a while to research. There is scope for further anecdotal coverage, for which I recommend the complimentary book "Masters of the Airwaves" by Dave VJ and Lindsay Wesker.

Very well researched and written. As well as being an extensive and detailed record of this era of radio history, there are well written prologues to each chapter that puts into social context the activities of these radio pioneers and validates their efforts to diversify the choice of radio listening and to give exposure to music and opinions that were otherwise marginalised or given very little, if any, airtime on the legal radio stations.