Overview

From the nineteenth-century textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the triumph of unions in the twentieth century and their waning influence today, the contest between labor and capital for the American bounty has shaped our national experience.   In this stirring new history, Philip Dray shows us the vital accomplishments of organized labor and illuminates its central role in our social, political, economic, and cultural evolution. His epic, character-driven narrative not only restores to our collective memory the indelible story of American labor, it also demonstrates the importance of the fight for fairness and economic democracy, and why that effort remains so urgent today.

Full Product Details

9780307389763

Table of Contents

Reviews

@lt;p@gt;PRAISE FOR @lt;u@gt;THERE IS POWER IN A UNION@lt;br@gt;@lt;/u@gt;@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt;@lt;i@gt;Kirkus Reviews@lt;/i@gt; (starred): @lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt;@lt;b@gt;Exemplary history of the American labor movement@lt;/b@gt;, from its time-shrouded beginnings to its murky present.@lt;br@gt;Working in the tradition of Eric Foner and Studs Terkel, Dray (@lt;i@gt;Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen@lt;/i@gt;, 2008, etc.) tells a story of heroes and villains. At the dawn of the republic, he writes, came the country's fervent hope that its democratic virtues would forge sufficient regard between labor and capital. Alas, it would not be so, and the author locates the origins of a homegrown labor movement in that early avatar of the Industrial Revolution, the mill town of Lowell, Mass.--a movement that was launched by an unassuming young woman off the farm who would not take being oppressed by the bosses. As the narrative progre

<p>PRAISE FOR THERE IS POWER IN A UNION <p> Kirkus Reviews (starred): <br>Exemplary history of the American labor movement, from its time-shrouded beginnings to its murky present.<br>Working in the tradition of Eric Foner and Studs Terkel, Dray ( Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen, 2008, etc.) tells a story of heroes and villains. At the dawn of the republic, he writes, came the country's fervent hope that its democratic virtues would forge sufficient regard between labor and capital. Alas, it would not be so, and the author locates the origins of a homegrown labor movement in that early avatar of the Industrial Revolution, the mill town of Lowell, Mass.--a movement that was launched by an unassuming young woman off the farm who would not take being oppressed by the bosses. As the narrative progresses, a few trends become apparent: the continued recalcitrance of capital when it came to sharing wealth and theo

<p>PRAISE FOR THERE IS POWER IN A UNION <p> Kirkus Reviews (starred): <br>Exemplary history of the American labor movement, from its time-shrouded beginnings to its murky present.<br>Working in the tradition of Eric Foner and Studs Terkel, Dray ( Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen, 2008, etc.) tells a story of heroes and villains. At the dawn of the republic, he writes, came the country's fervent hope that its democratic virtues would forge sufficient regard between labor and capital. Alas, it would not be so, and the author locates the origins of a homegrown labor movement in that early avatar of the Industrial Revolution, the mill town of Lowell, Mass.--a movement that was launched by an unassuming young woman off the farm who would not take being oppressed by the bosses. As the narrative progresses, a few trends become apparent: the continued recalcitrance of capital when it came to sharing wealth and thei

Author Information

Philip Dray is the author of At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His book Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen was a New York Times Notable Book and received the Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available