Working-Class Americanism: The Politics of Labor in a Textile City, 1914-1960
"The transformation of ethnically insular workers into passionate American activists is an important story, which Gerstle recounts with unusual subtlety. . . . No one has explored the meaning of Americanism to workers with more intelligence and insight."--Alan Brinkley,New York Review of Books"Scintillating. . . . [Gerstle] uses the method [of social history] with striking originality to tackle the thorny questions of Americanism."--Alan Dawley,The Nation"[A] fascinating new book. . . . One of the great feats of this book is Gerstle's ability to show that intellectual history is not some ethereal, separable history of abstract 'ideas' but is rather a product of class relations born at the workplace."--Dana Frank,In These Times"The most provocative account of working-class politics in the 1930s and 1940s."--John Bodnar,Journal of American History"[A] pathbreaking, impeccably researched history. . . . The sheer scope of this study . . . is breathtaking."--Richard M. Vallely,International Labor and Working Class History"A remarkably rich and thoroughly rewarding study of life, labor, and politics in a 20th century industrial community."--Stuart M. Blumin,Labor History"Important. . . . To read Gerstle . . . is to think a little more freely of this country's possibilities. . . . [T]he sobriety and sheer depth of Gerstle's engagement with real Americans' struggles spells relief from tributes to 'forgotten warriors' that read like old placards in a May Day parade. Study 'the people' here first."--Jim Sleeper,Los Angeles Times Book Review