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schomj's review against another edition
4.0
The political economy of labor history seems like a weird thing for me to enjoy (and I couldn't quite manage it for the currency reform stuff) but overall I found this a super interesting overview of a super interesting time. I also really appreciated how straightforward Dr. Painter's writing is, and how she actually talked about workers and women and Black people and sometimes all three at the same time.
melissabee's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent history of a period I knew little about- always seemed to fall through the gaps in my American history education. My only criticism is that, since it's very politics-focused, there are what sometimes feels like entire chapters devoted to listing various organizations (unions, political parties, temperance groups, women's groups, etc); it can get dry. And some political issues of the time- tariffs for example- I just can't force myself to be interested in or care about. But the book overall is fascinating, especially for the view of labor relations, the intensity of strikes and turmoil, and the immense difficulties of making any progress on basic issues like an 8-hour workday.
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