Left Out tears the veil of anti-Communism away to reveal the insurgent origins of Communist-led unionism in America. The Communists didn't "infiltrate" or "colonize" unions, but were instead the backbone of popular struggles for decent working conditions, racial equality, women's rights, and participatory democracy. Culling and compiling data from many sources, Left Out reveals a broad, grassroots support for the Communists in America's industrial unions stretching from the long decade of the 1930s through the early 1950s. The postwar decline of organized labor is, then, tied to the aggressive purge of Reds and radicals of all hues and the failure of the expelled Communist-led unions to forge their own labor federation. Left Out goes against the shibboleths of our time and questions the inevitability of American labor's self-destructive accommodation to corporate capitalism. Courageous, clear and compelling, this is counterfactual history at its best -- history returned to the actors who make it.

Where history books place dry facts, dates, and seemingly distant, irrelevant stories, this book brings home the first person accounts of the brave and dedicated organizers of the Ford Rogue Plant. Spanning from the 20's to the 70's, these accounts are told in the words of a tapestry of workers, union officials, and politicians. The stories they tell are moving, riveting, and allowed me to actually understand whate really happened in the unionist movement from the people who were there.

The book focuses not only on what happened, but why. It takes a concentrated look at what was going on in America politically and the effect that each thing had on the move to organize. The format is clear and concise, but it is still very intriguing reading.

Everyone in America should read this book, and anyone who has any interest or membership in an American Trade Union of any kind NEEDS to read this book. It's what it is all about: freedom, democracy, power of the people when they stand united.