This spring is the centenary of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, one of the most significant events in Canadian social history.
To mark the occasion, a few publishers have released new titles about the Winnipeg strike or new editions of books about the strike. Meanwhile, several others have recently published books about a range of aspects of Canadian labour history.
The books listed here explore the lives of workers — and would-be workers — across a range of occupations and across the country, including the stories of women, minorities, and people with disabilities.
Magnificent Fight: The Winnipeg General Strike, by Dennis Lewycky
1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike, by The Graphic History Collective and David Lester
Winnipeg 1919: The Strikers’ Own History of the General Strike, edited by Norman Penner
Working Lives: Essays in Canadian Working-Class History, by Craig Heron
They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada, by Cecil Foster
Wages for Housework: A History of an International Feminist Movement, 1972–77, by Louise Toupin
Working towards Equity: Disability Rights Activism and Employment in Late Twentieth-Century Canada, by Dustin Galer
Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Violence at Work in the North American Auto Industry, 1960–80, by Jeremy Milloy
On the Line: A History of the British Columbia Labour Movement, by Rod Mickleburgh
Through the Mill: Girls and Women in the Quebec Cotton Textile Industry, 1881–1951, by Gail Cuthbert Brandt
One Job Town: Work, Belonging, and Betrayal in Northern Ontario, by Steven High
Read our review.
Power, Politics, and Principles: Mackenzie King and Labour, 1935–1948, by Taylor Hollander
Canadian Carnival Freaks and the Extraordinary Body, 1900–1970s, by Jane Nicholas
Rough Work: Labourers on the Public Works of British North America and Canada, 1841–1882, by Ruth Bleasdale
Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada, by The Graphic History Collective
Westray: My Journey from Darkness to Light, by Vernon Thibault, as told to Marjorie Coady