Customer Reviews

Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1941.

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It's a great blessing that this has been reissued. More recent histories have the advantage of hindsight, so that of course much more of the present is available to illuminate the long historical story. Still, this book loses none of its thoroughness and insight in the light of more recent studies. There is much to learn here.

Bernstein's masterpiece is more relevant than ever in an era of corporate-media-government assaults on unions and workers' rights. The research for his labor trilogy was prodigious; I still love this passage (imperfectly recalled) from "The Lean Years:" "Anyone wishing to dispute these findings can check the citations. This is a challenge and not an invitation." Beyond massive evidence for the merits and contributions of industrial unionism, a main virtue is its spirit. It embodies the energy, hope and resourcefulness of 1930s labor as a true social movement. There is broad sympathy for all sectors of American society, though some nasty corporations & pols receive a good whacking now and again. One quibble: Piven's introductory update enhances the value of the work, but the original edition covered 1933-41. Why only to 1940 now? It looks the same as published in 1969. Still, well-written with conviction and ironic wit, Bernstein makes history come alive. This will make readers feel proud to be Americans, not to mentions unions sisters and brothers.