Review of 'The I.W.W. and the Paterson silk strike of 1913' on 'Goodreads'
this started out a bit dodgy, her take on the chicago/detroit split of the original iww betrayed a hardcore partiality toward the chicago group - the rest of the focus of the book (so far) justifies this, sorta. fascinating and surprisingly fun! good narrative structure, and the characters are amazing and intense.
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wow, i'm really happy to have stumbled upon this book, and that i stuck it out through the long drawn out post-strike chapters.
anyone remotely interested in our vast history of radical thought and action should examine carefully the last few chapters, the back-stabbing and finger pointing that followed this disaster of an undertaking (which the generally quite iww-partial author admits was the beginning of the end of the eastern branch of the organization as well as the city of paterson, nj), but also the more insightful conclusions that have been drawn in the near century since …
this started out a bit dodgy, her take on the chicago/detroit split of the original iww betrayed a hardcore partiality toward the chicago group - the rest of the focus of the book (so far) justifies this, sorta. fascinating and surprisingly fun! good narrative structure, and the characters are amazing and intense.
-----
wow, i'm really happy to have stumbled upon this book, and that i stuck it out through the long drawn out post-strike chapters.
anyone remotely interested in our vast history of radical thought and action should examine carefully the last few chapters, the back-stabbing and finger pointing that followed this disaster of an undertaking (which the generally quite iww-partial author admits was the beginning of the end of the eastern branch of the organization as well as the city of paterson, nj), but also the more insightful conclusions that have been drawn in the near century since these events took place.
also exciting just for the experience of witnessing the broad array of radical characters who trounce their way through the story as it unfolds- including John Reed, who helped author and direct a Madison Square Garden pagaent about the strike starring struck workers, playing to a sold out audience! wild!