Miners’ strike newspaper cartoon book to be published
A book of newspaper cartoons looking at the 1984-85 miners’ strike is set to be published.
The Art of Class War is a look back at the year-long strike of 1984-85 through the images and caricatures of news cartoonists.
It presents a vivid interpretation of an industrial dispute that had a massive impact on the Wakefield district.
Author Nick Jones, a BBC broadcaster who covered the dispute, said: “From opposing media perspectives of left to right, the graphic portrayal of a confrontation that traumatised the mining communities is like an angry, unfolding tapestry."
Hundreds of illustrations were published including cartoons, caricatures and cartoon strips.
Mr Jones, who wanted to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the strike, became gripped by the challenge of relating illustrations and punchlines created by cartoonists to the drama of the dispute.
Alongside his reflections on the miners’ struggle against pit closures, he looked at the pressures faced by cartoonists in contributing to the wider commentary about events that dominated the news for months on end.
He said: “Lined up against the National Union of Mineworkers was the full force of the state and the way the pit dispute was portrayed by press and television remains as controversial today as it did 40 years ago."
Mr Jones has donated his extensive personal collection – all in chronological date order – to Sheffield University Library, which is building up its own archive on the strike.
He said: “In the mid-1980s, well before the concept of rolling news and the turmoil of social media, the national newspapers sold almost 15 million copies a day.
"Vivid black and white cartoons, which stood out with great clarity amid endless pages of smudgy text, are a reminder of the provocation and abuse which once appeared regularly in the printed press, but much of which has since migrated to the internet in today’s online free-for-all.”
The book is on sale from February 28 and priced £10.
Copies can be ordered by bank transfer from [email protected].
A book launch with Mr Jones and former Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell, who wrote the foreword, will take place at City Room, Leeds Playhouse, Quarry Hill, Saturday, March 1, 2pm.