A Short History of the U.s. Working Class: From Colonial Times to the Twenty-first Century (Revolutionary) - Hardcover

Le Blanc, Paul

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9781573926652: A Short History of the U.s. Working Class: From Colonial Times to the Twenty-first Century (Revolutionary)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573926655 ISBN 13: 9781573926652

Publisher: Humanity Books, 1999

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Noting that standard accounts of U.S. history often pay little attention to the working class, labor historian Paul Le Blanc presents a colorful, fact-filled history that concentrates on the struggles and achievements of that often neglected laboring majority. In a blend of economic, social, and political history, Le Blanc shows how important labor issues have been and continue to be in the forging of our nation's history. Within a broad analytical framework he highlights issues of class, gender, race, and ethnicity, and includes the views of key figures of U.S. labor—Cesar Chavez, Eugene V. Debs, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Samuel Gompers, Woody Guthrie, "Big Bill" Haywood, Langston Hughes, "Mother" Mary Jones, Martin Luther King Jr., George Meany, A. Philip Randolph, and Carl Sandburg, among others.

In addition to the main narrative, a bibliographical essay directs readers to classic works and cutting-edge scholarship in the field of U.S. labor history as well as to relevant fiction, poetry, and films for further exploration or study. The book's substantial glossary offers clear definitions and thought-provoking mini-essays for almost 200 terms, from the most basic to the most complex and technical.

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About the Author:

Le Blanc has been active in labor and social movements for many years.

From Booklist:

Le Blanc is an assistant history professor at Pittsburgh's Carlow College and a self-described activist in labor and social movements. He edited From Marx to Gramsci: A Reader in Revolutionary Marxist Politics. Although most books that consider the "working class" are usually devoted to studying or portraying the poor, Le Blanc's book takes a much broader view. For Le Blanc, working class and labor are synonymous. His aim is to make the history of labor in the U.S. more accessible to students and the general reader. He succeeds by outlining major events in the history of the U.S., then showing the role of labor in shaping them or describing their impact on labor. Le Blanc's primer not only informs but should also prove to be a helpful resource. Included are a chronology of U.S. labor history, a U.S. history time line, a glossary of labor terms, and a bibliographic essay highlighting research, classical works, fiction, and films about labor. David Rouse

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