Deftly blending autobiography and history, James Green here reflects on thirty years as an activist, educator, and historian. He recounts how he became deeply immersed in political protest and in recovering and preserving the history of progressive social movements, and how the two are linked. His book, written in an engaging and accessible style, tells powerful stories of people in struggle, framed by the personal account of his own development. As a historian, Green gives voice to generations of Americans who banded together to fight for social justice. His subjects range from the martyrs of the Haymarket tragedy to the Bread and Roses strikers of 1912, from depression-era struggles for democracy to the civil rights crusaders, from recent Rainbow Coalition campaigns to the latest union organizing drives. As an activist, Green describes how his participation in the civil rights and labor movements of our own time has transformed his life, first as a student and radical scholar in the 1960s, then as a public historian and teacher of working-class students. He also describes his efforts to break free from academic confinement and "tell movement stories in public," in an attempt to offer hope and counsel to those still fighting for equality and fairness. He concludes with a revealing look at how awareness of past social activism has contributed to the revival of the labor movement during the last ten years, an effort in which Green has been vigorously engaged.

Written by some of our nation's top historians, Working for Democracy is the first book to examine the politics of American workers from the revolution to the present in terms of broad struggles for power in society at large. In more than a dozen chapters, the topics range from the committees of artisan "republicans" at the time of the American Revolution to the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. Whether the subject is the anti-slavery movement, the New Deal coalition, the Wobblies, or women workers, Working For Democracy is a testament to the struggles of workers everywhere in America.
 

 
      The World of the Worker illuminates workers' lives at home, on
        the job, and in the voting booths. A new preface enhances this social,
        cultural, and political history: an unparalleled picture of working people
        during the turbulent rise and fall of the labor movement.
      "A fresh and provocative look at twentieth-century American unions,
        and a fine introduction to recent labor history scholarship." --
        Leslie Woodcock Tentler, Washington Post Book World
      "Will be welcomed by anyone with a serious interest in labor history."
        -- Library Journal
      "Probably the best social history of twentieth-century labor
        there is." -- Kirkus Reviews
      "Virtually replaces any previously existing one-volume popular history
        of the labor movement." -- Ron Radosh, Democratic Left