The 1922 Railroad Shopmen's Strike was one of the most momentous labor/capital confrontations in American labor history. Over 400,000 railroad shopmen went out on strike in July, 1922. Confronting them was solid block of railroad owners and the federal government. In the space of two months the nation's railroad network was on the verge of collapse when the Warren Harding administration obtained a sweeping federal injunction that effectively destroyed the strike. The book details how railroad communities across the nation fought imported strikebreakers and guards to maintain their strike's effectiveness.

In countless instances wives stood shoulder to shoulder with their menfolk to battle for dignity and a living wage. Their struggle is similar to the problems facing railroad workers today. In both cases railroad workers demand to be heard, and that their hard-won benefits should not just be maintained but expanded

Colin J Davis, Professor of History, University of Albama

author of "Power at Odds: The 1922 Shopmen's Strike"