A review by citrine
A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis

4.0

I read this one pretty quickly and I read it a while ago, but it's well written and effective. It is a good history, as far as I know, of the 10 strikes in question, and shows that striking, work stopping, sabotage, and the like have been part of the American worker's arsenal since the beginning - and that American workers aren't just white men. I bought the book because of the second chapter, where the author discusses the striking of enslaved people in America, one of the most overlooked labor actions of American history. What I remember taking away from the book is that whether a strike ends in brutal, sometimes murderous repression, or with strikers victorious often rests on the response of the capital S State. If the State backs the strikers, there's a greater chance they will win (or at least not get hurt). If the State backs corporate power, as is so often in its nature, the strike will almost certainly fail. Erik Loomis is thus of the opinion of reforming the Democratic Party to allow more favorable State conditions when labor actions occur; you can take that or leave it. If you're looking for a good, short, effective labor history, I can definitely recommend it!