Labor and the State

This book lives up entirely to its title, but it would be a pity to suppose in advance that it is nothing more than what its title declares. For, in the process of writing a detailed, thoroughly documented history of labor relations policy in the United States, Dickman provides us with a fascinating background to his main subject; one that takes us back to the breakup of the Middle Ages and to early efforts by the new national states to curb, regulate, and apply criminal law to organizations of workers. Thirteen appendices supply us with key documents, in full or in extracts, ranging from The Ordinance of Laborers of 1349 down through the centuries to the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 - the historic Wagner Act.