Notes

"A minor industrial dispute in the final months of 1913 turns into a bitter class warfare, with battles raging in the streets of Wellington and shots fired. Seventeen year old Johnnie Hargreaves and his friend Joe Halifax sympathise with the strikers, as does Johnnie's sister Hetty, who is in love with Joe's older brother Ned. The boys plan their own part in the conflict as it rapidly turns into a town versus country affair when mounted-baton-wielding special constables are recruited to crush the strikers. What starts out as boyish enthusiasm on the part of Johnnie and John turns into something much more serious, with tragic consequences. The story is told from Johnnie's recollections half a century after the events, exploring the relationship between memory and reality, and how a person lives with guilt, combined with themes of human emotion and the endurance of love in times of conflict"