The repression of 1919's Winnipeg General Strike: illustrated in the style of a war artist

David Lester's graphic novel '1919' depicts Bloody Saturday, when police opened fire on crowds of unarmed people.
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At first glance of 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike, there is one particular sequence that jumps off the pages: Vancouver-based illustrator and musician David Lester's frenetic depiction of Bloody Saturday.
Bloody Saturday became a pinnacle moment within the Winnipeg General Strike - a day that saw a peaceful labour protest escalate into violent clashes between authorities and citizens, which ended with Mounties opening fire on crowds of unarmed people.
Lester, who has illustrated other historical non-fiction such as The Listener and The Battle of Ballantyne Pier, continually adapts his style based on the subject matter. In this case, he decided to illustrate the novel 1919 as if he were an artist documenting the war, quickly rendering the scenes in a way that captures chaos as if it were happening around him in that moment. "If it's a radical subject you are dealing with, you want to take a radical approach to the drawing."
The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was the largest strike in Canadian history. Over the course of 41 days, over 30,000 workers walked out. Their grievances were over low wages, poor working conditions and the desire for collective bargaining. The most disproportionately affected in Winnipeg at that time were working-class immigrants. As those 30,000 workers left their jobs, the city's private sector was essentially shut down. This was quickly followed by public workers who stood in solidarity with their fellow labourers.
In this video made by filmmaker Rami Katz, you'll see David Lester take you through his intricate process of illustrating this notable protest and the challenge of depicting historic figures and events with contemporary urgency.
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"1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike" is co-winner of the 2020 CAWLS (Canadian Association for Work & Labour Studies) Book Prize: cawls.ca/en/two-books-co-awarded-cawls-book-prize/