Here are a few books we've discussed lately on the blog that you might want to revisit on this (rainy) Labor Day:
Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War by Thomas G. Andrews
Winner of the coveted Bancroft Prize, Andrews's book offers a deep perspective, both literally and metaphorically, on the 1914 Ludlow Massacre and the "Great Coalfield War." We discussed it on the blog here; Bancroft announcement here.
Borderline Americans: Racial Division and Labor War in the Arizona Borderlands by Katherine Benton-Cohen
See how categories of race were created and dissolved in the fluid society of the borderlands, where war raged between management and labor, resulting in the infamous Bisbee Deportation. Discussed yesterday here on the blog.
To Serve God and Wal-Mart: The Making of Christian Free Enterprise by Bethany Moreton
Wal-Mart: the new face of American capitalism. But this isn't your standard Wal-Mart exposé. Instead, it's a far-reaching look into the world that Wal-Mart created and, just as importantly, the world that created Wal-Mart, a world where "corporate populism" isn't an oxymoron and where the "Christian service" ethos that animated Sam Walton's white, rural, and largely female workforce served to drive profits in a way that wouldn't have been conceivable under older paradigms of American capitalism. Highly recommended; discussed on the blog here.
As it happens, May 1 is also Buy Indie Day, so maybe hop over after work and support a local (business, that is). Just remember, folks, that if you're fortunate enough to get off at five and spend some time with your loved ones, there's a reason for that. The late, great oral historian Studs Terkel. for instance, never forgot, and it seems he never let anyone else forget it, either.
