Thank you to Rowman & Littlefield and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. This book is far ranging and covers many areas of labor battles throughout baseball history starting with the early days of John Montgomery Ward, all the way through the present CBA negotiations. It is written from a left/liberal perspective, as you can imagine from the title and the cover image.

This book works for anyone looking for a thorough history of the topic, although anyone with a general understanding of the key people and events can likely skip ahead past certain sections. I will say I learned a lot about the early labor pioneers such as Ward, Jim O'Rourke, Tim Keefe and Mark Baldwin. Another favorite section was about Kenichi Zenimura, and the section on Sean Doolittle makes me wish there were more MLB players like him.

Overall, I recommend this book for any baseball fan looking to learn more about the history of the business behind the game.

A very timely piece of writing; if I can't watch baseball during this labor lockout, then I might as well read about the history of baseball's long history of activism and reform. Thankfully, this book has so much more to offer than a history of baseball's labor reform within the league. Racism, empire, and many other social issues have been challenged by players who have been provided a platform from the game they play and this book documents all of it. While the blemishes on baseball's past aren't swept under the rug, this book definitely highlights agents of change rather than focusing on shaming those who have resisted it.