Written by some of our nation's top social 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 this 25th anniversary edition of his Bancroft Prize-winning book, Dawley reflects once more on labour and class issues, poverty and progress and the contours of urban history in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts, during the rise of industrialism in the early 19th century. He not only revisits this urban conglomeration, but also seeks out previously unheard groups such as women and blacks. The result is a more rounded portrait of a small eastern city on the verge of becoming modern.

In this critique on the making of modern America, from 1890 until World War II, prize-winning historian Alan Dawley traces the group struggles of the nation's rise to power. Probing the dynamics of social change, he explores tensions between industrial workers and corporate capitalists, Victorian moralists and New Women, native Protestants and Catholic immigrants. Thoughtful analysis and lively narrative combine to make this book a challenge to earlier interpretations of the period.

In May of 1919, women from around the world gathered in Zurich, Switzerland, and proclaimed, "We dedicate ourselves to peace " Just months after the end of World War I, the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom--a group led by American progressive Jane Addams and comprising veteran campaigners for social reform--knew that a peaceful world was essential to their ongoing quest for social and economic justice.

Alan Dawley tells the story of American progressives during the decade spanning World War I and its aftermath. He shows how they laid the foundation for...