Hoffa [Hardcover]

Arthur A. Sloane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0262193094 | ISBN-13: 978-0262193092 | Edition: revised edition

Arthur Sloane, as a Harvard graduate student, first met Jimmy Hoffa in 1962 and he has been fascinated by this powerful and contradictory figure ever since. Now, nearly three decades after that first encounter, Sloane has written the only comprehensive biography of the late Teamster leader, having been provided full access to Hoffa's family, friends, and professional associates.Hoffa is a rich and colorful portrait of one of the most influential figures in American labor. It covers in considerable detail all the facets of Hoffa's remarkable life and death: his rise to total dominance over the largest, strongest, and wealthiest union in American history; his near-Victorian personal habits; the legal problems that plagued his later years; and, of course, the shadowy events surrounding his presumed Mafia murder in 1975.Jimmy Hoffa's middle name was Riddle, and as Sloane points out, he was indeed a mass of contradictions. To many, Hoffa was a kind of latter-day Al Capone, the dictator-president of a corrupt and overly powerful Teamsters Union. To others, he was a devoted family man and a workaholic union leader, who was both amazingly accessible to his hundreds of thousands of truck driver constituents ("You got a problem? Call me. Just pick up the phone.") and hugely successful in improving working conditions for them. In fact, each of these perspectives, Sloane observes, is far too limited to tell the full story of this complicated man.Arthur A. Sloane is Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Delaware. His previous books include Labor Relations (with F. Witney), the most widely used textbook in its field.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hoffa is a welcome look at a legendary labor leader who fascinated America." Joe Dirck, The Plain Dealer

"I may have faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." James R. Hoffa (1913-1975)

While most recent books about Hoffa are fixated on his mob connections, Sloane presents a more complicated figure - a tough, innovative trade unionist who profoundly influenced the industry as well as the union." James Green , Boston Sunday Globe

About the Author

Arthur A. Sloane is Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Delaware.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 442 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; revised edition edition (August 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262193094
• ISBN-13: 978-0262193092
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Union organizers, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hoffa (Paperback)

Sloane takes us on a journey through Hoffa's life. From his early childhood, to the end. Sloane spends time on Hoffa's relationship with Ferral Dobbs and the tactics and strategies that he learned in Minneapolis that Made Hoffa one of the most effective Union organizers of all time. This book literally cuts through the crap and vilification and shows Hoffa the man, the Union organizer, and the Union leader. A must read

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the book was a good, I thought I was there, December 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hoffa (Hardcover)

Good book, well I don't know much else to say, I read it a long time ago, but I remember being enthrulled with it; I couldn't put it down!