The years 1898-1902 were prosperous for the U.S., marked by economic growth and industrial expansion, a rising material standard of living, and low unemployment. The period was one of unprecedented growth for the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and it found Samuel Gompers continuing to advocate the organization of all workers and focusing his efforts on establishment of local and national trade unions, central labor bodies, and state federations, and on the affiliation of these organizations with the AFL. From reviews of earlier volumes "This collection belongs on the shelf of anyone teaching American labor history, but it also should prove useful to scholars with related interests." -- James Grossman, Illinois Historical Journal "Distinguished and invaluable. . . . Labor historians would be well advised to clear shelf space for it." -- Bruce Laurie, Industrial and Labor Relations Review

The most dangerous work in North America at the turn of the century may have been extracting metal-bearing ore from mountains of hard rock. Beginning in the 1890s miners in the West worked through local unions both to prevent occupational hazards and to assure themselves of adequate health care. Among other projects, they planned, built, and governed more than twenty general hospitals throughout the Western United States and Canada. Workers' Health, Workers' Democracy is an engaging and richly documented account of this first attempt to create a democratically controlled health care system in North America. Focusing on the efforts of local unions, Derickson illuminates the broader history of the Western labor movement, the self-help traditions of rank-and-file workers, and the evolution of health care on the industrial frontier.