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American Vanguard
The United Auto Workers during the Reuther Years, 1935–1970

John Barnard 		The struggles and victories of the UAW form an important episode in the story of American democracy and economics. American Vanguard is the first and only history of the union available for both general and academic audiences. In this thorough and engaging narrative, John Barnard not only records the controversial issues tackled by the UAW, but also lends them immediacy through details about the workers and their environments, the leaders and the challenges that they faced outside and inside the organization, and the vision that guided many of these activists. Throughout, Barnard traces the UAW's two-fold goal: to create an industrial democracy in the workplace and to pursue a social-democratic agenda in the interest of the public at large. Barnard presents balanced interpretations grounded in evidence, while setting the UAW within the context of the history of the U.S. auto industry and national politics.

“John Barnards's sweeping history of the UAW is both an impressive piece of scholarship—thoughtful, judicious, and gracefully written—and a fitting tribute to the extraordinary men and women who dared to dream of building a better America for working people. What a marvelous book!”
— Kevin Boyle, Ohio State University, author of The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945–1968

John Barnard is professor of history emeritus at Oakland University.

A 2005 Michigan Notable Book
 

$44.95s cloth / ISBN 0-8143-2947-0
$29.95s paper / ISBN 0-8143-3297-8

608 pages / 7 x 10
80 illustrations

2005 (2004)

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