A fascinating story of history most people won’t know. It’s also surprisingly timely.

In this story, there’s a lawsuit and political cartoons and an early movie and secret missions, all told through clear art and friendly characters. We know that these women are on the right side of history, and it’s a refreshing read to see some of the things they have to do to get there.

Most of us know next to nothing about Jujitsu as a discipline. Or about the history of martial arts in the West. Or about the suffrage movement apart from the little we are taught in school. Those ideas combine in this book. Here we learn about a couple that started out simply wanting to teach Jujitsu, especially wanting to teach women a few basic skills to protect themselves. They became enmeshed in the suffrage movement at a time in Britain where the conflict was becoming especially violent. The nature of the plot, being driven by fight scenes, lends itself well to the graphic novel format. It does not shy away from stark images and neither side of the conflict is painted in an especially positive light. This is a solid choice for supplementing an existing history lesson plan about the suffrage movement.

The Bodyguard Unit details the struggles of women fighting for suffrage and women's rights. It's a thrilling and informative read with enjoyable art and high stakes. I learned a lot of details that I didn't know about while reading it and would highly recommend it.

This is definitely one I would put in a classroom library or reading list of options for students to drill down further into a specific subject.

It deals with a little known aspect of the Suffragette movement in England. Women's lives at the time included a lot of violence. Students are always amazed to learn of how police employed so much violence against the Triangle Shirtwaist strikers. This would be a wonderful companion piece when discussing what options women had in the face of these things! I will be checking with my modern world history teaching peers to see about how to fit it in!

‘The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women’s Suffrage, and Jujitsu’ by Clement Xavier with illustrations by Lisa Lugrin is a graphic novel based on a true story.

Edith Gurrud and her husband taught jujitsu in England in the early 20th century and started getting women as students. The suffragist movement was also going on and the women realized they needed a way to protect themselves from the police. Edith showed them how to defend themselves while pursuing their rights.

This was a fascinating slice of history that I was unfamiliar with. The art is good and the book includes a great forward as well as actual photos and newspaper drawings of the time.

The Bodyguard Unit is graphic non-fiction that explores the impact of jujitsu on the English suffragette movement. An interesting, lesser-covered aspect of English history. May appeal to readers or watchers of Enola Holmes who want more context into early 20th century England.

When Edith Garrud and her husband set up their Jujitsu studio in early 20th century England, they aren't expecting to be part of the suffragettes movement. Edith finds a unique audience of students - women needing to defend themselves from husbands or from the police who violently retaliate when they protest for the right to vote.

"The Body Guard Unit is a crisp, well illustrated graphic novel that shines light on often neglected elements of the British Suffragette movement while focusing on the life and accomplishments of Edith Garrud. Along with her husband, Garrud was an early student of Jujitsu in Britain, She was also the first female instructor of the discipline and used her skills to train and support other women to resist the Police and mob violence that Suffragette activists experienced.

The strongest feature of this book is the strong focus it places on the danger and threats of violence that women endured while campaigning for the right to vote in Britain. The graphic novel format makes this danger a very real and present concern for the reader. Additionally, the insertion, directly into the text, of actual photos of brutality, violence and torture ensures that the reader cannot ignore the harsh realities of the day.

The book also serves as a streamlined and fairly accurate introduction to the Suffragette movement of the Edwardian era. Most of the focus in on Emmeline Pankhurst's faction at the expense of a greater and more comprehensive treatment of the subject, Thus, Mary Jane Clarke's martyrdom is mentioned but she is not identified by name. Additionally, class issues and the challenges to the movement due to the onset of the First World War are simplified and under explored. Additionally, the very real contributions of non White Britons to the Suffragette movement are entirely ignored.

All in all this is an enjoyable and informative book that should prove useful in and out of the classroom.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Lerner Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was unaware of such a badass group existing during the Suffragettes period of history. Finding new parts of history is always a personal treat. What is a treat for my library patrons is this new non-fiction graphic novel kids will be able to read and learn from!

Thank you to Netgalley and Learner Publishing Group for the arc!!

This book was good and quite educational. I had never heard of jujitsu in the women's suffrage movement, and since I am from the United States, I never heard of any of the European movement. I think this graphic novel does a good job of portraying the history while keeping it entertaining but also real. I loved how real images were sprinkled in. My only critique is the fact it felt rushed or like it moved too fast. I wonder if time stamps could be made clearer throughout.

Fabulous tale of choosing yourself over social norms. When maintaining the status quo is easier for those in power and their power is immense, what do you do? Beautifully told story of women embracing Jujitsu from protection of domestic violence to body guard unit for suffragette leader.

This book gave me a lot of information I did not know. This graphic novel would be a great addition to a library's collection and I will definitely be adding it to our collection.

The Bodyguard Unit tells the true story of Edith Garrud in the form of historical fiction. This graphic novel tells the story of how Edith empowered women during the English suffrage movement by teaching them jujitsu. As someone not from England, I had no prior knowledge on this topic, so it was really interesting to learn about it in this format, I also really love the art style. I do wish some of the transitions in the story were a bit more smooth because it did lead to some confusion at times. Overall though, I really enjoyed this story and loved the historical fiction route this tale took!

As a thanks to NetGalley for providing me this ebook, I choose to voluntarily leave this review.

How fun to see the history of such pivotal women illustrated. Proof that women can and have been kicking ass for centuries.

Some of my favorite thing about books is learning something new and when I saw this graphic novel written about a historical event I was super excited cause I had never heard of the Bodyguard Unit before coming across this book.

This is the story of The Bodyguard Unit, a group of women who learned Jujitsu to help protect themselves and others from the police during the Women's Suffrage movement in England. The group was taught Jujitsu by Edith Garrud who with her husband ran a dojo which welcomed men and women from all walks of life.

What I Loved:
- Dojo, Edith and her husband ran a dojo who welcomed anyone who wanted to learn Jujitsu, this concept was revolutionary for the time and I loved they focused on the two running the business together
- Actual articles/picture, throughout the story the author chose to include actual newspaper clippings and photos from the time period which help strengthen the story for me
- Learning, I don't know a lot about the Women's Suffrage movement and this was a great opportunity for me to learn something unique about the struggle and now I can't wait to start learning even more
- Growth/Understanding, Edith's husband was very against her helping the Suffragettes but through their experiences individually and together he developed a better understanding of the movement and ended up being one of the biggest supports of the Bodyguard Unit

I will be telling anyone who will listen about this book and recommending it to everyone because I think in the time we are currently living everyone should take the time and learn about how the women before us had to fight for basic rights and we need to continue those traditions.

If you like non-fiction, are interested in the Women's Suffrage movement or just learning about a different part of women's history run don't walk to get your hands on this book!

I loved learning about the real life story of English suffragettes who fought tirelessly for their rights and how one woman’s ability to use jujitsu spread throughout the movement to empower others and enact social change. This was super interesting.

After seeing the picture at the end I can definitely say that the artist portrayed the real people involved so well. I also loved the addition of real pictures from newspapers throughout the story, it helped to show that it was a real story that happened to real people. Learning more about the suffrage movement outside of the United States was interesting as well as I wasn’t super familiar with jujitsu and its involvement.

I know very little about the suffragette movement in Great Britain, and even less about the history of the bodyguard unit. I was shocked to see the violence against women depicted in these pages, and I am proud of see how far society has (mostly) come so far.
My favorite part of about this book was the historical drawings and photographs included. That really made this story come alive for me!

This was a story most readers will be completely unfamiliar with, and it is told in a concise, entertaining, and informative way. The illustration style lightens the mood of what could be an incredibly rough read in a way that does not detract from the seriousness of the subject matter. Back matter provided helpful explanatory information that covered the characters lives beyond the small timeframe of the novel.

The Bodyguard Unit is an exciting window into the Suffragette movement, and is a fantastic story about women fighting back, literally. Complete with real historical photographs, this graphic novel makes history accessible and is perfect for anyone interested in women's rights.

I’ve been meaning to read this in French since I first learned about it, but never got the chance, so getting to read the English translation early was really cool! I liked the art style, and the way the story was told (although I was expecting a little less of Edith Garrud’s home life and even more of her time instructing Jujitsu). I’m a little surprised there are so few books about Garrud or about suffragists using Jujitsu since it’s such an interesting topic!