Hell yes to books about labor movements and about unions! This book is a must read for anyone looking to learn about the history of labor in the United States and about the power of organizing for change. As someone who started by organizing in farmworker communities and then later became a union member of a government agency, I was deeply invested in the way Kelly tells the story of organizing within communities that have been historically marginalized and kept from our structure of power, rather than leading with the work within existing institutions. The narrative very clearly identified the strength of organizing that aims not only to address class issues and the needs of the working class -- but to directly address white supremacy culture as well. I do wish the book had been told chronologically instead of categorically, but also found that this was less of an issue when listening to the audiobook, where it feels more like a set of individual stories. Looking forward to seeing more stories about the power and progress of organizing in the years to come. Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy, all opinions are my own.

I seriously learned so much reading this book. I've always been a union stan, and this is such an incredibly rich text for people on the fence or hoping to learn more about the history of unions, who really helped them take off, and just how much workers have had to fight for rights in the past (and present!) I wish there was a class just based on this book tbh. I'm so thankful for Kim Kelly's reporting, both in this book and separate from it. This is going to change how we understand labor.

This book is awesome, and so accessibly written, and I can't wait to feature it as a staff recommendation in my store!

I really enjoyed this collection of stories of labor movements in America. It is organized by topic/industry rather than chronologically, which allows Kelly to weave together past and present in a way that shows progress (and the lack thereof) in different areas. I really appreciated Kelly's dedication to highlighting the truly diverse nature of American labor actions and organizations over time.

This is meant to be an overview so it covers a lot of ground very quickly without delving terribly deeply into individual events--instead, this book feels like it is meant to be a jumping-off point for further inquiry by the reader. To that end, the citation list is robust. I do wish that footnotes were a convention in this type of writing--there's so much depth to Kelly's work, and I'd love to have discursive/citation footnotes close at hand to have a direct line to learning more.

I already loved Kim Kelly's reporting and music writing, so I was thrilled to be able to read and review this!

Is this the first time I've read a book because a cat recommended it to me? Maybe. But Jorts the Cat suggested that this book was well worth reading, and the cat was totally right. At first, I was not so sure I was going to get into this history of labor unions, specifically, the history of the involvement of people who sometimes get edited out of history, like people of color, women, people with disabilities, and people from sexual minorities. But the further I read, the more I wanted to read, and I closed the book feeling more informed and more engaged, and more connected with labor history, which was so rarely and poorly taught in the schools I attended.

Definitely read this, if you want to know more about how you got an eight-hour work day, or what you can do in your own workplace to fight oppression.

Thanks, Jorts.

I received this as an eGalley ARC from NetGalley.

I really liked how this book was written/organized- instead of telling a strictly chronological history of the American Labor movement Kelly wrote chapters on different segments of American society and their own history of organizing- as well as pointing out the ways that the different groups interacted and intersected. I especially liked the chapters of the unionization of Sex Workers, Prisoners, and domestic workers all segments of labor history I knew little about before reading this book. Highly recommended!