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krayfish1's review against another edition
5.0
The focus of the book is not so much on the strikes as on the history of the labor movement from textile workers in New England and slaves' action during the Civil War to the 8-hour work day to the union-busting of the 1980's. It's a different picture of America than you get in high school history books, which is generally "look at all this progress we made, we are always moving forward and getting better" vs. this book, which is more "here's a fight where we were beaten, here's a fight where we won in the short term and lost in the long term, here's a fight where we didn't make much progress, here's a fight we were able to build on 20 years later, here's how we lost a lot of progress".
julieb's review against another edition
3.0
Incredibly important work, wonderfully well researched and annotated, interesting approach, the writing is dry as hell.
smallcasualbooktok's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
I really loved this one!! I listened to the audiobook, and it really drew me in, plus I think the narrator was great. I am working in union-side labor law after law school, so obviously I was already predisposed to like it, but I think anyone interested in unions, beginner or expert, would love this book. I learned so much and everything was explained so well. It's obviously just a tiny bit out of date, as it was published in 2018 and so much labor news has happened since then (Starbucks, Amazon, Kellogg, etc) but I thought it was a great and digestible history of labor strikes, but also labor movements as a whole. I also feel that the author definitely made an effort to have this be an inclusive history, with a discussion of race, gender, sex, and sexual orientation in labor throughout the book, obviously, some things were left out, but I felt overall it was really well done. I really think any American worker should read this, and can't recommend it enough to people interested in unions and labor!
kellyelizabeth27's review against another edition
4.0
Analysis of the labor movement at different times in American history. I wish there were more primary source material; it can feel a little dry at times. Nonetheless, there were some clear trends and arguments that stood out. For one, participating in labor action was incredibly risky and violent until fairly recently. While a lot of that was state and corporate repression, there was also some violence on the part of strikers against strikebreakers, etc. Loomis also makes a strong case for the need to get people elected who will support the labor movement, as it's nearly impossible to win anything when the government sides with capital.
arationalvein's review against another edition
3.0
*Read for the prompt Charms - book with a white cover*
shaunagm's review
4.0
This is a dense, readable overview of labor history in the United States. The "Ten Strikes" framing is a little overstated - the ten specific strikes get a bit more elaboration than the other strikes discussed, but not much. It's more of a way to divide up the history into digestible chunks.
I appreciate the frank way Loomis discusses how racism, nativism and sexism have divided workers. I wish the book were a bit longer so he could provide more detail about what circumstances and choices allowed workers to create long-lasting solidarity, but the narrative is a bit too whirlwind for that.
I appreciate the frank way Loomis discusses how racism, nativism and sexism have divided workers. I wish the book were a bit longer so he could provide more detail about what circumstances and choices allowed workers to create long-lasting solidarity, but the narrative is a bit too whirlwind for that.
mythicalcat's review
3.0
There's some good stuff here. I especially appreciated the discussion of racism in the labor movement. But the tone switched on and off between "be radical... but not too radical" too much for me. Also, could have used more clarification on chronology--sometimes Loomis bounces around between decades in a single paragraph.
hebeshebewebe's review
3.0
I would like to thank GR giveaways and The New Press for my copy of this book.
I would like to start this review by stating that I am not normally a fan of non-fiction, and that my opinions should be viewed in that light. Overall, I found this book well put together, moderately interesting and moderately well written. I did feel like the author had first come up with a conclusion or point that he wanted to make, and then wrote the book backwards to prove his point.
The premise of the book is a review of American history through the lens of labor unions and strikes. The author did a good job of selecting ten major strikes (and their rising and falling supporting actions) to illustrate phases of labor organizing in America. He did a good job of providing backstory and context for those strikes so that a novice would feel immersed in the history. He also has an extensive timeline and glossary and provides all of the data that one could want for additional information about the time period.
My issue with the book (and issue is perhaps too strong of a word) is that the author's clear and unmistakable point is that employers have conspired with the US government to crush organized labor, and that this has exacerbated the financial and societal divide within the American working class. He also quite strongly calls on the Democratic party to take back up the torch of labor support, and tells us that the workers will never get out from under the crushing weight of the 1% without stronger organizing and Democratic support at all levels of government. I happen to agree with all of the author's points, but his heavy handed nature in emphasizing them made me feel like I wasn't reading the impartial presentation of history that I was expecting from an author with this background.
Overall, I don't regret reading this book, and would more heavily recommend it to people who enjoy historical non-fiction in general, and political commentary in specific.
I would like to start this review by stating that I am not normally a fan of non-fiction, and that my opinions should be viewed in that light. Overall, I found this book well put together, moderately interesting and moderately well written. I did feel like the author had first come up with a conclusion or point that he wanted to make, and then wrote the book backwards to prove his point.
The premise of the book is a review of American history through the lens of labor unions and strikes. The author did a good job of selecting ten major strikes (and their rising and falling supporting actions) to illustrate phases of labor organizing in America. He did a good job of providing backstory and context for those strikes so that a novice would feel immersed in the history. He also has an extensive timeline and glossary and provides all of the data that one could want for additional information about the time period.
My issue with the book (and issue is perhaps too strong of a word) is that the author's clear and unmistakable point is that employers have conspired with the US government to crush organized labor, and that this has exacerbated the financial and societal divide within the American working class. He also quite strongly calls on the Democratic party to take back up the torch of labor support, and tells us that the workers will never get out from under the crushing weight of the 1% without stronger organizing and Democratic support at all levels of government. I happen to agree with all of the author's points, but his heavy handed nature in emphasizing them made me feel like I wasn't reading the impartial presentation of history that I was expecting from an author with this background.
Overall, I don't regret reading this book, and would more heavily recommend it to people who enjoy historical non-fiction in general, and political commentary in specific.