Synopses & Reviews
Class War, USA is a rich collection of stories about ordinary people who resisted oppression and exploitation against all odds. Brandon Weber's succinct and vivid essays capture crucial moments of struggle when working-class people built movements of hope and defiance. Evocative imagery, archival photographs, and descriptive text make history come alive in these pages.
From the mines to the factories to the fields, Weber shares the experiences of the real-life men and women who organized, heroically resisted, and battled the bosses and corrupt politicians. In the spirit of A People’s History of the United States, this book conveys engaging and accessible narratives of ordinary people who led labor struggles that have indelibly shaped American history.
Essays include vivid accounts of resistance in the workplace like the Ludlow miner’s strike and organizing at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, as well as broader pieces on cultural figures like Woody Guthrie, Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK, and the fight for the eight-hour day.
An invaluable tool for learning the lessons of grassroots struggle, Class War, USA is the perfect counter-narrative to the myth that change comes only from the top, and will appeal to students of history and labor activists alike.
Review
"Brandon Weber’s Class War, USA isn’t just a retelling of well-known and not-so-well-known strikes. Weber has done for a new generation of social and labor activists what Sid Lens did for an earlier one: bring to life the hard scrabble union, social, and political struggles of working class people from the past to the present. And by the way, in case you ever wondered why Woody Guthrie’s "This Land is Your Land" never became the national anthem, Weber has the answer." Kim Moody, a founder of Labor Notes and author of On New Terrain: How Capital is Reshaping the Battleground of Class War
Review
"At a time when unions face the possibility of extinction, Brandon Weber’s Class War, USA shows us that working-class struggle is the only strategy that has ever advanced the labor movement historically — and is also the only way forward today....At fewer than 150 pages, written in accessible language, illustrated with an abundance of original photographs, this book should be on the coffee tables of all those invested in returning to a tradition of class struggle in the US." Sharon Smith, author of Subterranean Fire
Review
"Brandon Weber knows how to tell a good story, and he has a knack for labor history. There are stories here you've never heard of and ones that you have — but read them all. They'll light a fire under you!" Mrill Ingram, The Progressive
About the Author
Brandon Weber (1963-2020) wrote for the online news site Upworthy, where he wrote extensively on labor history and current events.