| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.4

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 244 words from this article are provided below; about 509 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Craig Phelan. Grand Master Workman: Terence Powderly and the Knights of Labor. (Contributions in Labor Studies, number 55.) Westport, Conn.: Greenwood. 2000. Pp. 294. $65.00.

In this study of Terence Powderly's role as leader of the Knights of Labor (KOL) from 1879 until 1893, Craig Phelan seeks to rescue his subject from historians' condescension. The idealistic Knights grew rapidly in the 1880s, becoming the largest and arguably most important American labor organization of the nineteenth century. Yet by the mid-1890s, the organization was largely extinct. Despite its short life, the order's dramatic rise, its relative inclusiveness, and its rich tradition of protest have made it a popular subject among labor historians since the 1970s. 1

Even as the "new labor history" has explored the Knights, it has focused almost exclusively on the organization at the local level. Phelan's book returns our gaze to the national level of the KOL, with a resolute emphasis on institutional development and elite leadership. The emphasis by historians on the community level has led not only to a neglect of the national institution, he argues, but also to an inaccurate view of grand master workman Powderly. New labor historians have castigated Powderly as a weak, foolish, and arbitrary leader who must bear some of the responsibility for the death of the Knights. Phelan asserts, to the contrary, that Powderly, "despite many shortcomings, possessed the makings of a great leader." . . .

There are about 509 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.