Book and info here

Paperback out October 16th 2025

Purchase from Lighthouse Books for £12.99: 

Lighthouse | Defiance : Racial Injustice, Police Brutality, A Sister's Fight for the Truth 

“ One of those books that it’s impossible to put down.”

Professor Gus John, co-founder of the Supplementary Schools Movement 

“A fierce, uncompromising testament to love and resistance.”

Jacqueline Crooks, author of Fire Rush, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023

“This book has it all. And we need to read it all, feel it all. Then take it all to others.”

Michael Mansfield KC

“An important and very well written book”

Professor Hakim Adi, first African heritage professor of history in Britain

Can the state deliver justice when the state itself is the perpetrator?

Shortlisted for the 2025 BREAD & ROSES AWARD

'A fierce, uncompromising testament to love and resistance.' -  Jacqueline Crooks

Christopher Alder was left to die on the floor of Queen's Gardens police station in Hull in 1998, having been dragged unconscious and bleeding from a police van by Humberside police officers. His case would become one of the most notorious 'deaths in custody' in the UK, involving the destruction of evidence, a whitewash of an investigation and illegal surveillance.

Christopher's death changed the life of his sister Janet forever, as she embarked on what would become a decades-long struggle to uncover the truth and demand justice. Her campaign led to some astonishing revelations and a string of landmark rulings. Yet it also led to a covert counter-campaign against Janet personally. This culminated in allegations, from within the police force itself, that Christopher's body was secretly being used in police training exercises, for years after his death, by the very force that killed him.

In this extraordinary memoir, Janet reveals, through the story of her, Christopher, their parents and their childhood, the racism and impunity that permeates our state institutions. It is one woman's attempt to bring the accountability which the state has denied, simply by telling the truth.

'The word "defiance" encapsulates the spirit, courage and determination of Janet Alder . . . She refused to be broken, refused to be silenced and in this book, she exposes the structural racism that still lies at the core of the Britain's institutions.' 

• Brian Richardson, Barrister 

Praise for 'Defiance' 

“ Defiance is one of those books that it’s impossible to put down.  

It is indeed an extraordinary account and a total indictment of the policing and criminal injustice system in this country. It should be compulsory reading for every police officer and police staff member across Britain and everywhere. 

  The Ancestors see to it that each generation produces Harriet Tubmans, Sojourner Truths, Josina Machels, Winnie Mandelas and more. Janet Alder came to Earth with a mission and a purpose which that tragic event put to the test. Through our own combined efforts and determination to secure justice in the face of normalised tyranny, history will vindicate her and the many more whose lives have been transformed by these state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings.”

Professor Gus John, veteran anti-racist campaigner and co-founder of the Supplementary Schools Movement 

“This book has it all. And we need to read it all, feel it all. Then take it all to others.

  I‘ve known Janet from early days. Her story of struggle against almighty odds, reflects the story of our times both inside and outside the justice system. They want us to give up and fade away so they can carry on with their malevolent ways

  But this will never happen whilst the flame of resistance is kept alive by the Janets of this world. 

  She is not just fighting for Christopher but for the basic values underpinning the rule of law and the critical need for systemic change. 

  She is far from alone and currently, for example, stands alongside the victims of Hillsborough, Bloody Sunday, Infected Blood, the Post Office Scandal, Covid, and now of course Grenfell. The tide is strong.”

Michael Mansfield, KC, lawyer for the Birmingham Six, Hillsborough Families, and the Stephen Lawrence family

"This is the fire of a Sister who refuses to be silenced. Defiance is a fierce, uncompromising testament to love and resistance. This book is a call to never stop fighting for our loved ones."

Jacqueline Crooks, author of Fire Rush

Reviews

The Voice 

Justice denied: sister of Christopher Alder breaks silence on 26-year battle in new book - Voice Online 

Haldane Society 

‘The battle is long and arduous. But essential’ 

Counterfire

Defiance: Racial Injustice, Police Brutality, A Sister’s Fight for the Truth | Counterfire 

Cherwell 

Defiance: Racial Injustice, Police Brutality, A Sister's Fight for the Truth by Janet Alder - Cherwell 

Fight Racism Fight Imperialism 

Review: Fighting back against the racist British state – Revolutionary Communist Group