Shoulder to Shoulder: Poems to mark the 100th anniversary of the General Strike, 1926
£6.00
A collection of poems to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the General Strike, covering the Strike itself and also other strikes, struggles and protests by our class since then.
They show how working people, by standing shoulder to shoulder, can fight back against oppression and exploitation and create a better world for everyone.
ISBN: 978-1-918132-05-2, 92pps., £6.
In 1926, working people did something the ruling class never forgave them for: they held a general strike. For nine days in May, Britain came to a standstill. The trains halted, the mines went quiet and the government of the time went to war against its own people. The strike was called in defence of the miners, but it quickly became a confrontation over who holds power in this country. It shook the ruling class to its core – no wonder we haven’t been allowed to get close in the last 100 years.
The poems gathered here look at the General Strike and working-class militancy since then from many angles – political, emotional, and historical. They explore the hardship, defeat, and repression that followed the Strike and other strikes, struggles and protests since then.
They also show how the Strike changed the political landscape, demonstrating the collective power of the organised working class on a scale Britain has never seen, before or since. They show how working people, by standing shoulder to shoulder, can fight back against oppression and exploitation and create a better world for everyone.
Shoulder to Shoulder: Poems to mark the 100th anniversary of the General Strike, 1926. Edited by Alan McGuire, supported by Unite the Union with an Introduction by Sharon Graham. ISBN: 978-1-918132-05-2, 92pps., £6.
