;)
Strike! | Praise
“For the past twenty-five years, anyone getting turned on to American labor history
has turned first to Strike! This new anniversary edition, which adds an
in-depth examination of recent events and experiences, guarantees that this book
will be the first source consulted by the next generation of workers and students
who seek out the ‘hidden history’ of the American working class.”
—Peter Rachleff
“Strike! manifests the real roots of workers' struggle—battles that
moved from the streets of Minneapolis in 1934, to the mass confrontations of
the 1960s against the Vietnam War, poverty, and racism, to the war zone of the
1990s in Decatur, Illinois.”
—Dan Lane
“Jeremy
Brecher's Strike! is one of the most important books on labor history
published since World War II. It is a much-needed history of recent labor
struggles. But what makes it indispensable is its point of view, its spirit,
which is that of rank-and-file resistance to both corporate power and trade
union bureaucracy. Its emphasis on worker-community solidarity, across all
boundaries, is exactly what is needed in our time.”
—Howard Zinn
“For anyone who wants to get behind the headlines on the ‘resurgence of U.S.
labor,' Strike! is essential reading.”
—Elaine Bernard
“Strike! is the single most important book about the history of the
American labor movement published in our time. And now Jeremy Brecher has brought
the history up to date—just in time to make a new generation ready for this
new era of labor struggle.”
—Dick Flacks
“Jeremy
Brecher's Strike!, a labor and left-wing classic, has educated tens
of thousands of readers over the decades and now comes back again—better
than ever.”
—Paul Buhle
“When
Strike! first appeared in 1972, it provided a healthy antidote to
the narcotic of standard labor history. Rather than merely being the victims
or at times allegedly the beneficiaries of government or corporate largess,
workers, as Brecher shows in exciting, exhilarating strokes, not only have
the power to change the world for the betterment of all humanity, but at their
best moments, are capable of doing so in a democratic, participatory fashion.”
—Michael Goldfield
“Jeremy
Brecher views the past quarter-century as a time of retrenchment and disorganization
between periods of mass strikes. In a new last chapter, he tells the stories
of Pittston, Staley, and other prefigurative struggles. This chapter will
serve future historians as a definitive introduction to the emerging era of
wider solidarity and more militant tactics.”
—Staughton Lynd
Praise for the first edition
“An
exciting history of American labor.”
—The New York Times Book Review New
and Recommended list
“Splendid … clearly the best single-volume summary yet published of American general
strikes.”
—The Washington Post
“Brecher,
a gifted young radical historian … offers a graphic history of industrial
strikes.… His research is thorough, his presentation lucid and often absorbing … draws its strength from a coherent view.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An
objective, minimally tendentious study of the American experience … a bracing
draft of history … brings to life the flashpoints of labor history.”
—Richard Lingeman, The New York Times
“A
magnificent book. I hope it will take its place as the standard history of
American labor.”
—Staughton Lynd
“The
best book I have seen on American labor as a social movement. An important
contribution to sociology as well as history. By focusing on mass actions
of workers, Brecher sheds new light on the role of trade unions and radical
organizations in the labor movement. Well-written, well-researched and well-argued.
I highly recommend it as a text for courses on social movements, political
sociology, and American society.”
—William Kornhauser
“Strike!
will undoubtedly be a controversial book.… The case materials are well-researched … what is original and useful is their collection in a highly readable form
and their integration with a theory of mass behavior … should become the
basis for further critical research.”
—Labor History
“An
excellent and exciting book.”
—Fusion
“A
really impressive piece of work which deserves the widest possible circulation.
It offers simultaneously a readable and largely accurate account of many of
the major strikes of American workers since 1877 [and] an extremely useful
and well-researched account of today's rank and file struggles.”
—David Montgomery
“Scholarly, genuinely stirring.”
—The New York Times Book Review
Return to Strike!