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rachelwalexander's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a while to get into this and get past the sometimes sanctimonious tone and heavy amount of author argument and opinions in there, but I'm glad I did, because Loomis has some very insightful observations on American labor history that go far beyond the little bit that our American history textbooks cover. I was mildly annoyed but I learned a lot.
evirae's review against another edition
3.0
Quick Notes
• This Book Was: A history of the United States through the lens of the strikes taken by workers petitioning for better workplace conditions. Included also is the self-emancipation of slaves at multiple points in history before the barbaric practice of treating people as property was abolished (and then in the following years of struggle to handle the aftrmath when slavery existed in every way but in official name.)
• Discretionary/Trigger Warnings: There is some in-depth, grisly coverage of deaths and tragedies which occurred during the fight for worker safety. The repetitive nature of the book can be a bit of a drag as workers' movements fail again, and again, and again, and again...
• Review In-a-Gif:
Thoughts
Loomis takes an overarching approach to covering the Labour movement in the US, and this informs readers of the many years of struggle for workers' rights. The context for these strikes is included, but the book suffers from a bit of a scattered nature.
Each chapter is said to concern a main strike followed by the context surrounding it. However, each chapter is jam-packed with a somewhat-initially-highlighted strike followed by a myriad of other events, large and small. Reading through, I found it hard to highlight main points or take notes to summarize the chapter as many union organizations, even those which had some significance, rose and fell on the same page. Attempting to keep the chapters coherent was a seemingly insurmountable project. The narrative arc needed to keep each chapter manageable just isn't there.
I think that the book has some great information, yes. I think that it covers quite a lot within its pages, and I am aware of but not bothered by its pro-worker, pro-union stance. *However*, it was incredibly tough to come away from the book with a specific set of notes to summarize, and for a book I really wanted to have "takeaways" from, this really was too muddled and scattered to do that.
• This Book Was: A history of the United States through the lens of the strikes taken by workers petitioning for better workplace conditions. Included also is the self-emancipation of slaves at multiple points in history before the barbaric practice of treating people as property was abolished (and then in the following years of struggle to handle the aftrmath when slavery existed in every way but in official name.)
• Discretionary/Trigger Warnings: There is some in-depth, grisly coverage of deaths and tragedies which occurred during the fight for worker safety. The repetitive nature of the book can be a bit of a drag as workers' movements fail again, and again, and again, and again...
• Review In-a-Gif:
Thoughts
Loomis takes an overarching approach to covering the Labour movement in the US, and this informs readers of the many years of struggle for workers' rights. The context for these strikes is included, but the book suffers from a bit of a scattered nature.
Each chapter is said to concern a main strike followed by the context surrounding it. However, each chapter is jam-packed with a somewhat-initially-highlighted strike followed by a myriad of other events, large and small. Reading through, I found it hard to highlight main points or take notes to summarize the chapter as many union organizations, even those which had some significance, rose and fell on the same page. Attempting to keep the chapters coherent was a seemingly insurmountable project. The narrative arc needed to keep each chapter manageable just isn't there.
I think that the book has some great information, yes. I think that it covers quite a lot within its pages, and I am aware of but not bothered by its pro-worker, pro-union stance. *However*, it was incredibly tough to come away from the book with a specific set of notes to summarize, and for a book I really wanted to have "takeaways" from, this really was too muddled and scattered to do that.
canadajanes's review against another edition
An excellent read, some history that more people should know.
sweetbriar15's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
jenningslibrary's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Labor history every working class individual should know
argorden's review against another edition
4.0
Huge fan of Loomis' work at http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/ and love his writing. I wish it wasn't so damn depressing, but that's not his fault, it's ours. Excellent history of the fate of labor in the United States, using the titular strikes as a framing device.
whatanissareads's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Solid and interesting read. I could clearly see the political bias in this book which is why I rated not a full 5 stars, but I really enjoyed learning about the strikes the author wrote about.