Farm and Factory

"Nelson . . . [is] one of the country's leading labor scholars. . . . [His] work provides an invaluable . . . guide to understanding a critical region . . . ." Ohio History ". . . I learned quite a lot from reading Farm and Factory, and this will certainly be the case for all who pick up this valuable and informative book." Minnesota History ". . . a valuable source for anyone concerned with regional and national tendencies in labor relations and ecomomic change over the last century." American Political Science Review ". . . a useful and well written synthesis of labor history in the Midwest in the period between 1880 and 1990." Labor History ". . . Nelson's work is most impressive in both its scope and depth. . . . a long-overdue study of the Midwest as a region distinct and important in the history of American labor." Northwest Ohio Quarterly ". . . a richly textured and much needed regional overview." Journal of the West ". . . a well written synthesis useful for classroom assignment in regional and social history. It is also a good starting point for a discussion of the future of the midwestern economy." Wisconsin Magazine of History " . . . a work of superior scholarship [that] makes an original and important contribution to the field." Nancy Gabin "A useful source for the demographic and economic dynamics of the Midwest and a good starting point for entering the voluminous secondary literature on the nation's heartland." The Journal of American History ". . . it provides an insightful, wide-ranging look at work and workers in the Midwest. It will certainly be a basic resource on regional history for years to come, as well as a book that adds to our broader understanding of the nation's labor and economic history." Indiana Magazine of History "Solidly researched and eloquently written, Nelson's work will long occupy well-deserved status as a redefinition of traditional midwestern history." Illinois Historical Journal "The great strength of Nelson's book lies in its up-to-date synthesis of various social history literatures . . . the study forms an exemplary American labor history." Michigan Historical Review "The writing is a model of clarity and economy; the examples are well chosen and the sources are complete. Nelson has presented a blueprint for a new way to think about and present labor history." Agricultural History "Farm and Factory deserves to take a place among the most respected books consulted by students of midwestern history" The Annals of Iowa Daniel Nelson illuminates the importance of the Midwest in U.S. labor history.