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Blood on Coal / The 1926 General Strike and Miners’ Lockout in the Forest of Dean by Ralph Anstis 1999 120 pp numerous photos. Black Dwarf Publications, 47-49 High Street, Lydney, Gloucestershire GL15 5DD £9.99 The General Strike in 1926, and the lockout of miners which followed, took the heart out of the Forest of Dean. The calamities of that terrible year, so well documented for the larger coalfields of Britain, have not, up to now, been recounted for Dean. In this book Ralph Anstis tells the story of the 1926 events in the Forest with all the anguish and misery that descended on the miners, who wanted only a decent wage for their labour. In spite of the hardships, the creeping hunger and the despair they endured, they, and their families, stood up to the employers for seven months, stubborn and persistent in their determination to win. Finally, however, when flesh and blood could stand no more, they were forced to capitulate. This is a grim record of heroism and self-sacrifice culled from contemporary newspapers and other sources, including first-hand accounts from Foresters who lived through those bleak times. It is a welcome addition to Ralph Anstis’s other well-researched books about Dean’s industrial and social history. [cover review] Tony Oldham, Bookseller, Rtd. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%