Sweat and Blood: A History of U.S. Labor Unions (People's History)

Grade 6 Up—In clear prose, Skurzynski traces the history of unionization in the United States, beginning with the first work stoppage at Jamestown, a result of denying a group of Polish carpenters the right to vote. The carpenters stopped building, and they shortly won the rights they wanted. Following the rise of both the AFL and the CIO, explaining the connection between early union movements and socialism/communism, and detailing the forces arrayed against the early organizers, the soundly researched text delineates the reasons for the rise of unions as well as their more recent struggles against the forces of rampant consumerism. The strictly chronological organization allows readers to locate the information they need on a particular time frame easily, with additional help from the accurate index. Frequent well-placed, black-and-white photos and reproductions ably extend the text. An appendix contains the transcript of Clarence Darrow's defense of Big Bill Haywood, an early union organizer. Source notes are given, as is a 21-item "Selected Bibliography," consisting of both print and Web documents. This is certainly not a book that students will pick up for fun. However, it is an excellent research source, slightly more comprehensive than Tim McNeese's The Labor Movement: Unionizing America (Chelsea House, 2007). For those wanting a basic introduction to the concept, Diana Cohn's excellent Si, Se Puede/Yes, We Can! The L.A. Janitors' Strike (Cinco Puntos, 2002), though a picture book, provides an excellent entrée that will lead interested students on to more detailed treatments.—Ann Welton, Helen B. Stafford Elementary, Tacoma, WA
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The history of labor unions is one filled with larger-than-life characters fighting to correct the wrongs of the few upon the many and with gripping humanistic dramas of class conflict brought on by the imbalance of capital. This entry in the reliable People’s History series begins with the roots of unionization in colonial America, cruises through the frenzy of industrialization in the twentieth century, and ends in the present day, where unions play less of a role but still provide “the single best ticket into the middle class.” The author makes sure to ground the flurry of names, acronyms, and accounts of strikes on a bedrock of historical context, summing up such widely complex topics as the Great Depression with economical precision and deft sourcework. The design, with its solid mix of blues and black, is simple but appealing; and the period prints and photographs are well chosen to highlight and comment on the text. Classes studying any part of the industrial or social history of this country will be well served by this valuable resource. Grades 7-10. --Ian Chipman