From the depression of the 1890s through World War I, construction tradesman held an important place in San Francisco's economic, political, and social life. Michael Kazin's award-winning study delves into how the city’s Building Trades Council (BTC) created, accumulated, used, and lost their power. He traces the rise of the BTC into a force that helped govern San Francisco, controlled its potential progress, and articulated an ideology that made sense of the changes sweeping the West and the country. Believing themselves the equals of officeholders and corporate managers, these working and retired craftsmen pursued and protected their own power while challenging conservatives and urban elites for the right to govern. What emerges is a long-overdue look at building trades as a force in labor history within the dramatic story of how the city's 25,000 building workers exercised power on the job site and within the halls of government, until the forces of reaction all but destroyed the BTC.

Nineteen seventy-two marked the end of one era and the beginning of another in the United Auto Workers' involvement in the Michigan Democratic party. Before 1972 the UAW acted as a dominating influence in party activities; after 1972 the UAW simply took over the leadership of the Michigan Democratic party. For years the UAW encouraged participation of its members in the Democratic party. Its members were elected to every level of the party organization. There were, however, other members of the Democratic coalition that had been important components of the party, especially the blacks. The coalition that promised economic benefits was in danger of being destroyed by a social issue — busing. After the 1972 election and with the appointment of a union candidate as party chairman, the UAW had taken control of the party to return it to an emphasis on economic issues. They still did not control the electorate, however, and the state's highest office remained Republican through the 1978 election. Weakened by the schism between the black leadership in Detroit and the white leadership of the party, Michigan Democrats looked to the 1982 gubernatorial election as the unifying event. With the right candidate, party wounds could be healed, for at stake was a greater prize — a democratic governor.