Two young brothers attached by their bootstraps, decide to go and fight for the Confederate Army. En route to form up with the rest of their company, they are captured by the North. Sent to Camp Douglas, Illinois. The brothers bribe their way out, and eventually end up in Wisconsin, to start new lives. With help from their uncle, the boys open up a tavern/casino/cathouse in Dundee, Wisconsin. Their lives begin to change in a big way, with help from some notorious outlaws.

As the immigrant teenage son of a Croatian miller, Steve Nelson arrived in the United States after World War I and entered a world of chronic unemployment, low wages, dangerous work, and discrimination. Following the path taken by many fellow immigrant workers, he joined the Communist Party. He became a full-time organizer and ultimately a major leader, only to resign in 1957 after unsuccessful attempts to democratize the American party. This remarkable oral biography, recounted in collaboration with two historians, describes day-to-day life in the party and traces Nelson's career from...