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.

"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 scholarship." -Milton Cantor, The Nation "Wyman has looked at miners in the larger context of American industrialization during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In doing so, he has produced a stimulating, informative account of how this group of workingmen responded to changes in the work place brought on by changes in technology, corporate capitalism, and the shifting labor forces of the day." -James E. Fell, Jr., Pacific Northwest Quarterly "Wyman's compassionate and thoughtful study is an important contribution to the social history of western mining. Hard Rock Epic is also a significant addition to the literature on the process of industrialization. It amply demonstrates that no group in the American West was so deeply affected by the Industrial Revolution as the hard rock miners." -Jeffrey K. Stine, The Midwest Review "Hard Rock Epic is both a descriptive and analytical study of the impact of technology on the life of metalliferous miners of the West. It is thoroughly researched, drawing heavily upon primary sources and the most relevant recent scholarship concerning the hardrock men. The study is judicious and balanced. . . . [and] fits well into the growing body of scholarship on Western metal mining. Historians of labor and the American West will find this volume instructive and definite contribution to their fields of study." -George C. Suggs, Jr., The American Historical Review

This two-volume set cites books, pamphlets, maps, music, directories, and other published materials (excluding materials from technical and popular magazines and newspapers) on the history of mining in the American and Canadian West. Topics covered include prospecting, mining rushes and camps, and mining finance, labor, technology, law, literature, and lore. The initial portion provides general information on mining and metalurgical technology. The subsequent regional sections are subdivided into refined historical studies, raw materials, fictional and poetic treatments, and bibliographical guides to further materials. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).