Italians were the largest group of immigrants to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century; and hundreds of thousands led and participated in some of the period's most volatile labor strikes. Jennifer Guglielmo brings to life the Italian working-class women of New York and New Jersey who helped shape the vibrant radical political culture that expanded into the emerging industrial union movement. Tracing two generations of women who worked in the needle and textile trades; she explores the ways immigrant women and their American-born daughters drew on Italian traditions of protest to form new urban female networks of everyday resistance and political activism. She also shows how their commitment to revolutionary and transnational social movements diminished as they became white working-class Americans.
#2040665 in Books George C Rable 2007-02-26 2007-02-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x 1.11 x 6.10l; 1.35 #File Name: 0807858188440 pagesThe Confederate Republic A Revolution Against Politics
Review
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful. A Valuable Secondary SourceBy TEKRable here provides the reader and student with probably the only truly comprehensive review of Confederate politics. His main contention with the literature preceding his work is that other authors had used Confederate politics only as a factor in explaining the failure of the Confederate revolution (i.e.; the Confederacy failed because of the division between Davis and several Governors or Congressmen; etc.). Here Rable is concerned with Confederate politics for its own sake; and his book is a great tool for understanding the various dynamics that made up the Confederate political scene (especially its anti-politcs nature as a source of nationalism).I give this book three stars for at least two reasons. First; the length of this book and its style. This is certainly not a page-turner; and those looking for pleasure reading on the Confederacy will probably find this book a little dry. The target audience for Rable is academics; and his book reflects that. His writing is full of repetitive details and analysis that make for a great catalog for the student; but conversely makes for a boring read for anyone other than the most enthusiastic layman.Secondly; throughout this book Rable makes analytical mistakes that taken by themselves are relatively meaningless; but that taken in the aggregate suggest an unsound view of the broader picture. For example; Rable suggests that diplomatic recognition was still a possibility in early 1865; a factor those within the Confederacy who opposed emancipation and enlistment of the slaves overlooked. This is clearly silly; even if some Confederates were still holding out for recognition at that point; Rable as a historian should have been able to consider the British and French point of view; namely; that the train had already left the station on that one. Another example is when Rable claims that the Confederacy was a better protector of civil rights during the war. Certainly this is a debatable point; but I think Rable fails to consider the high level cultural and extralegal resistance to dissent in the Confederacy. In any case; Rable makes this broad claim without citing any source material and he doesn't back the claim up with any analysis. He just makes the claim and moves on. Rable makes these kinds of academic mistakes several time throughout the book; not enough to bring his integrity into question; but enough to make the difference between a 4-star and a 3-star work.This book would make great source material for those doing research; and any student desiring to understand Confederate politics for its own sake cannot do without this work. Rable's bibliography is comprehensive; and his analysis of the essence of Confederate politics is sound. However; Rable runs into interpretive problems when he attempts to make determinations outside of his subject. A dry read; but a scholarly work. Read this book with Emory Thomas' Confederate Nation: 1861-1865 to get a full picture of Confederate nationalism.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A Good Synthesis of Confederate PoliticsBy Thomas W. RobinsonProfessor Rable has written an excellent overview; and synthesis; of Confederate political culture and ideology. I would agree with the previous reviewer who stated that this book is certainly written for academics and serious students of the Confederacy. This book is not a page-turner; but I would not go so far as to say it is poorly written. In fact; while Rable does tend to hammer some points home; his writing style overall is fine and pretty easy to follow.The crux of Rable's argument is that secession marked a revolution against politics; hence the subtitle of his book. While Emory Thomas argued that even though the Confederacy was a backwards-looking revolution; the Confederacy actually ended up going against this revolution and became forward-looking and acting. Rable; on the other hand; argues that the Confederacy succeeded in this backwards-looking revolution as they attempted to mimic the Founding Fathers and purify the political process. While factionalism did occur in the realms of politics; military strategy; and even religion; the political leaders of the Confederacy actually succeeded in eliminating political parties and much partisanship. Rable argues that this antipolitical legacy still has profound effects on southern politics.While I tend to be more of a student of Thomas' theory; Rable's work has many merits and is well worth the read for interested parties of the subject. And although I enjoy Thomas' writing more and agree with his argument more; Rable's book is probably the best synthesis yet on Confederate politics. Furthermore; Rable is one of the few historians to have covered the state and national elections that occurred in the Civil War era South. Recommended for students of the topic and era.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Gives a different perspective.By Kindle CustomerThis is a very good book. It has a huge amount of information in it about Confederate Politics. Anyone who wants to understand the Confederate side of the Civil War should read it. It will give a different perspective.
