Kate Evans’ elegant visual storytelling and understanding of the subject matter informs every aspect of the book, creating an engrossing, full-bodied reading experience. An illuminating glimpse at a marginalized chapter of world history, Red Rosa should be required reading for anyone interested in the history of social activism. BrokenFrontier.com
“A true labour of love… Red Rosa features some stunning images and many memorable scenes”
It is Luxemburg’s ethical response to the world in which she found herself – and her commitment to (in her own words) ‘burden the conscience of the affluent with all the suffering and all the hidden bitter tears’ of the oppressed – that remains her most inspiring legacy for today’s activists, and which Evans’ book captures so vividly. Peace News
“Most deliciously, Evans reveals Rosa Luxemburg’s growth…”
Fanciful stylistic touches echoing Chagall’s paintings serve to narrate events too huge and complex to be drawn with journalistic realism. The 1905 Russian Revolution and WWI appear here as spirals and waves, as film footage, or in miniature as Luxemburg’s unruly hair, as seen in the cover image, literally “on her mind.” These huge events that defy realism call for … Read More
“Red Rosa stands out as a way to do biography right.”
Evans deals with theory in graphic form. She doesn’t shy away from giving theory the spotlight, and she is quite adept at unfolding, panel by panel, some extremely important, sometimes dense Marxian principles… Evans’s drawings give abstractions a living quality that makes them intelligible: an unattended tea kettle represents capitalism’s tendency for booms and busts, a lit candle the dialectical opposite … Read More
Top ten political books for 2016
Kate Evans has produced a graphic biography Red Rosa to bring the life, times and ideas of Rosa Luxemburg alive in a vivid and striking manner text alone will never match for impact and engagement. Philosophy Football
“…a wonderfully composed and lively book.”
Luxemburg’s discussion of credit under monopoly capitalism is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why the capitalist economy crashed in 2007-2008 and why it will crash again. Her unrelenting opposition to imperial war and disgust with those who call themselves socialist yet support such wars is an inspiration… Counterpunch
“How come so few socialists are aware of this woman? Eyes roll at such a question – because she’s a woman, stupid!”
Red Rosa by Kate Evans is a work of flat out brilliance; a fuller story of a great life than I’d thought to see. Rosa’s mighty spirit and towering intellect – both much in evidence as she took on Lenin, no less, over the nationalist question – shine through every page… Steel City scribblings.
“…cleverly encapsulates Luxemburg’s life and work in a way that is both substantive and accessible.”
Evans’ account pays close attention to the social milieu within which Luxemburg operated, along with the political debates that she took part in. I was especially impressed by her presentation of her (and Marx’s) ideas about commodities, class relations, and the contradictions of capitalism. Her book also does a fine job… New Politics.
“…conveys Luxemburg’s life and thought with warmth and humour.”
Red Rosa is extensively researched and presents the public and private Luxemburg in her own words, taken from her works and letters. It highlights how her thinking on economics was far ahead of its time. Long before the terms “military industrial complex” and “globalisation” were coined, Luxemburg talked about a… Jewish Chronicle.
“…entirely humanises this uncompromising political firebrand.”
This superb graphic novel not only succeeds in telling the life story of the Marxist theorist and revolutionary socialist, Rosa Luxemburg, but also manages to advance many of the central tenants behind her beliefs in a clear and concise manner. She was born to a Jewish family in Poland… The Crack Magazine