The Ludlow Massacre scholarship renaissance.

I feel like I should say something about Caleb Crain’s piece in the New Yorker on the Ludlow Massacre if for no other reason so that I have a direct link to it when I need to reference it again. It’s nominally a review of my friend Thomas Andrews’ book Killing for Coal, but what he’s really done is recreate the narrative of the strike and massacre from beginning to end.

Crain describes and links to just about all the material available on the new Ludlow Massacre scholarship renaissance on his blog. He also goes more into actual book reviewing :

Which should you read, if you want to know more about Ludlow? Martelle has the best day-by-day account of the conflict. Andrews has the most insight into the geological, economic, and sociological forces, and he gives the context of the preceding decades in more detail than any of the others. I think both deserve the highest marks in terms of their scholarship and their accuracy.

Personally, I say read ’em both. Start with Martelle for the details, then read Andrews for the context. When my book on the Rockefeller Plan comes out later this year, that will cover the aftermath.

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