"The most comprehensive and interpretive study of the mining industry available to historians. . . . It is a book that will stand the test of time."
-W. Turrentine Jackson, Technology and Culture

"Mark Wyman's sympathetic account of the Western metal miners includes graphic details of their bitter struggle for unpaid wages, for industrial safety legislation, for corporate liability in the event of mine accidents and for workmen's compensation. . . . Throughout the book one finds the compassion and understanding that mark works in the best tradition of historical...