1919 is a graphic novel that captures the spirit and energy of the Winnipeg strike of 1919. This was a six week strike led by workers who were at the breaking point when they could no longer afford to feed their families.

From the false imprisonments, demonization of immigrants and police beatings, you'll see the Canadian ruling government to crush the movement.

The lasting memory of this book though is the bravery and selflessness of the people who sacrificed everything to bring power back to the workers. Only through banding together were these workers strong enough to take back their voice and their power. It is inspiring and hopefully not forgotten thanks to books like this.

Normally I don't tend to read anything set during WWI or WWII because it has been overdone but 1919 A Graphic History of the Winnipeg Strike was a brutal and compelling graphic novel that kept me hooked until the very end.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, an important event not only in the history of labour in Canada but the history of the country in general. The Graphic History Collective and David Lester have released 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike to commemorate this event.

On May 15th, approximately 30,000 workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba walked off the job to protest their working conditions. Despite attempts by the government and corporations to end the strike including the use of force and charges of foreign agitators, the strike would continue for six weeks and spread to many cities across the country.

Finally, on June 17th, the mayor of Winnipeg called in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who charged on horseback into the crowd of strikers, beating them with clubs and firing their weapons. The day, known as ‘Bloody Saturday’, ended with federal troops taking over the city’s streets.

Faced with the real possibility of more and deadly violence by the government and employers, the strike was finally called off on June 25th. It ended, seemingly, in defeat but it would prove to have long-lasting repercussions for the labour movement in Canada. It led to an increase in unionism and radicalism across the country. It would still be several decades but, eventually, thanks in great part to the legacy of the strike, workers achieved the rights to union recognition and collective bargaining.

It also led to more political involvement by Labour, JS Woodsworth, one of the leaders of the strike, who was sentenced to a year in prison would afterwards go on to found the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation which eventually became the New Democratic Party, a social democratic party which still maintains ties to Labour.

As a graphic novel, 1919 is, by necessity, not a complete historical account of the strike but rather more an introduction. However, it is a great introduction for anyone interested in what is still one of the most, if not the most, influential strikes in Canadian history and I recommend it highly.

<i>Thanks to Netgally and the The Graphic History Collective for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

There are a few things a ruling government fear more than its citizens unifying under a purpose it does not support. Modern history is rife with examples of crackdowns against labour unions and systematic propaganda against leaders of any organised citizen-led action.

1919 is a graphic novel that goes back to capture the roots and atmosphere of the Winnipeg strike of 1919. This was a strike (lasted for six weeks) led by workers who no longer felt able to feed their families on low wages.

1919 chronicles the police beatings, unjust imprisonments, demonisation of immigrants, and other tactics used by the Canadian ruling government to crush the movement.

More importantly, 1919 also highlights the bravery of men and women who sacrificed so much to bring dignity and power to normal working people. This is a book that emphasised the power of the collective as a strong weapon against business elites who are trying to create an unjust world for the sole aim of profit.

Many thanks to BTL Books for review copy.

I received this work from NetGalley. The artwork in this graphic history was fantastic; it evoked the violence of World War I and emphasized the collective nature of the general strike. The history of the strike itself was fairly well done. My biggest complaint is that the creators disposed of with the causes of the general strike in one panel. While I understand that this format isn't the best for in-depth discussions of the causes of a general strike, it would have been nice, as someone who came into this cold with no foreknowledge of the strike, to get some more context, beyond a simplistic argument about solidarity with other global workers' movements.

I was quite curious when I saw that there was a graphic novel based on important historical movement that took place in my hometown. Not many people outside of Canada have any knowledge about the province let alone Winnipeg, so I am hoping this story will be a way for people to learn. It was very much a history lesson for me, since I knew the basic details of the strike. I am also aware this book does seem to focus more of the majority population (aka white peoples), and the power certain people abuse. The one downside was of course reading through the story on my phone, having to keep switching from portrait to landscape format to somewhat accurate word placement.

This should really not be a graphic novel. A graphic novel is supposed to tell a a story. But this one is severely lacking. If there were not the preface and Introduction sections of this book (which read like a boring history textbook) the reader would have no real idea of what is going on, or why it was so important to get it’s own graphic novel. Don’t get me wrong, the finished illustrations are well done, but it feels too much like a yearbook; here's a guy and his name, here is a time and a shot, here is a turned over trolley. But very little reasoning. This book tries so hard to be March but the collective didn’t look at what made March so successful. It had a story. A beginning, a middle, and an end. It didn’t need to give a textbook lecture to get its story across to the readers.

I love a graphic novel that has citations and photo essays attached to it. This is a great example of how to bring a topic that some people might not know a lot about (me an American definitely did not) and present it in a way that covers the different arguments and events of a confusing time. The graphic style definitely helped enhance the story.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own.

I was very impressed with 1919. It wasn’t just the story it was telling but to see it come to life this way was truly fascinating. It tells a tale about workers who go on strike so they can get fair wages and more rights. This graphic novel shows how the strike was put together, and how it ended. If you know nothing of this story then you may want to check this graphic novel out.

The history of the labor movement is largely ignored by history taught in schools. That is because it benefits the establishment to ignore it as much as possible. If you let people know that they can strike for a better life, well, then they will do so.

In American schools, at least, the only information about the history of labor was around Sinclair Lewis, and his work to show how bad the meat industry was, but that just was to teach about safer foods, not safer working conditions.

No, to get the history of the labor movement, you have to go outside of schools, and got to the direct sources that were there. That witnessed it. If the only history you get is from the Titans of industry, you will only hear how evil labor is, and how bad strikes are.

This book chronicles one such strike, a mojor strike that last almost two months, and involved most labor unions in Winnepeg.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-23-at-5.44.17-PM-785x1024.png" alt="1919 Winipeg strike" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4866" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-23-at-5.47.36-PM-762x1024.png" alt="1919 Winepeg strike" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4865" />

And while the strike was not successful, in the end, as it got broken by the government, it did show that it could be done, and that strikes would happen again, after that.

This is a well researched graphic novel, with many of the pictures based on photos taken at the time. And what I am always interested to see is what women did in the labor movement, and glad that they were included.

Highly recommended for personal and public libraries as a way to make this historical action available for all.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.