2022.001.062

Philip Dray's book follows a character-driven narrative to provide a history of labor in America. Dray attempts to highlight the importance of organized labor and its fight for fairness and economic democracy to explain why it is important today. Dray tells of key events in this history, including the Haymarket Riot, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the Ludlow Massacre, and the PATCO strike. The author utilizes these events to analyze important figures of the period, including Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, "Big" Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, John L. Lewis, Walter Reuther, and Jimmy Hoffa. The book includes a section on the Strike of 1912 in Lawrence.