“Will be standard reading for anyone interested in this crucial period of American labor history.” — American Historical Review
“An enormously useful history of the tumultuous career of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, one bound to be treated as the definitive account for years to come.” — Business History Review
“Extensively researched, solidly argued, and well-written. . . . A major achievement by a distinguished scholar and a welcome addition to the literature.” — Journal of American History
“Can be relied upon as the most authoritative factual overview and the most detailed interpretive reading of the CIO’s history we have.” — Journal of Southern History
“An excellent history of an important American institution. Zieger does a good job of setting the context in which the union developed and of stressing the difficulties inherent in organizing workers in capitalist firms. His work deserves attention from labor historians of all stripes.” — Contemporary Sociology
“Sets a new standard for the study of the mid-twentieth-century labor movement . . . . Manages to strike that most elusive of balances between history from above and below. . . . A major accomplishment.” — Reviews in American History
“It is probably the best starting point for any effort to understand the twentieth-century labor movement. . . . Zieger’s book is a welcome addition to the history of the labor movement, both for its balanced treatment of events and interpretative issues and for its potential to encourage new insights into a familiar but fascinating subject.” — International Labor and Working Class History
“Zieger cannot be praised too much for his in-depth description and analysis of the CIO.” — Southeastern Political Review
“The CIO is a masterful work by a talented, mature scholar.” — Ohio History
“Zieger’s fine book provides us with an essential foundation for understanding the modern labor movement, its institutions, and its rank and file.” — Industrial and Labor Relations Review