Red Harvest - by Michael Cherkas (Hardcover)

About the Book

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin waged a brutal war against the Soviet peasantry leading to the Holodomor, the terror-famine that killed at least 4 million Ukrainians during the fall and winter of 1932-33. Red Harvest is based on the tragic events that took place in Soviet Ukraine and other parts of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1933. Stalin and the ruling Communist Party began their program of forced large-scale collectivization of individual farms and farmers, including the seizure of livestock, farm implements, crops, seed stock, and other property. Red Harvest is the fictional story, based on true stories as related to the Ukranian-Canadian author, of Mykola Kovalenko, a Ukrainian immigrant to Canada, who was the only member of his family to have survived the famine. Through his memories, we witness the horrors of what happened to his family and fellow villagers in the "breadbasket of Europe" as they struggled--not only to make sense of the war that was being waged against them--but, ultimately, to survive.

Book Synopsis

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin waged a brutal war against the Soviet peasantry leading to the Holodomor, the terror-famine that killed at least 4 million Ukrainians during the fall and winter of 1932-33. Red Harvest is based on the tragic events that took place in Soviet Ukraine and other parts of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1933. Stalin and the ruling Communist Party began their program of forced large-scale collectivization of individual farms and farmers, including the seizure of livestock, farm implements, crops, seed stock, and other property. Red Harvest is the fictional story, based on true stories as related to the Ukranian-Canadian author, of Mykola Kovalenko, a Ukrainian immigrant to Canada, who was the only member of his family to have survived the famine. Through his memories, we witness the horrors of what happened to his family and fellow villagers in the "breadbasket of Europe" as they struggled--not only to make sense of the war that was being waged against them--but, ultimately, to survive.

Review Quotes

"Red Harvest is a gripping historical graphic novel covering the oppression and starvation of Ukrainian farmers under Soviet rule...exposing some of the roots of Russo-Ukrainian hostilities, Red Harvest is...moving and enlightening." --Peter Dabbene, Foreword Reviews

"Red Harvest is timely because it provides knowledge of the history that needs to be known and conveys understanding as to why Ukraine has again been targeted by an aggressive, imperial neighbour." --Lidia M. Wasylyn, New Pathway

"...it will bring a tear to your eye." --First Comics News

"A demanding historical narrative with a profound, ever-relevant vision of the human capacity for both cruelty and cultural persistence." --Library Journal

"Poignant, tragic and a brilliant example of what comics can be." --https: //theslingsandarrows.com

"A simply riveting read from start to finish...raises the medium of the graphic novel to a peerless level of literary excellence." --https: //www.midwestbookreview.com

"A somber and moving read."--Shona Reads

"Rendered with wit, tact and great reserve, it adds meat to history's bones, tracing the slow, gradual, hopeless decline and repercussions very much in the manner later employed in George Orwell's Animal Farm." --Win Wiacek, Now Read This

"Cherkas draws the comic in a self-described raw and sketchy black-and-white style that captures emotion, landscape, and pain equally well. . . . Red Harvest is a timely, intense reminder of the horrors once inflicted upon the Ukrainian people." --Booklist Reviews

"In loose, unpretentious lines, Cherkas draws vivid characters who radiate personality, and his scenes of rural Ukrainian life, traditions, food, and culture are well-researched and composed with affection. Cherkas brilliantly encompasses the scope of a genocide in an emotionally gripping human story." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Michael Cherkas was born in Oshawa, Ontario in 1954 from Ukrainian roots. He has worked for over 30 years as a graphic designer, art director, cartoonist and illustrator. He still enjoys using non-repro blue pencils, brush, India ink and paper when making comics. His other graphic novels include the critically praised The Silent Invasion.