Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World

Edited by Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman
Verso, paperback, £14.99

Reviewed by Mandy Vere

On the centenary of the IWW, this superb graphic history has been published. The Wobblies made a unique and remarkable contribution to American culture and the everlasting struggles for freedom and justice, and you can learn all about it here through comic strips, cartoons, posters and text. Mother Jones, Big Bill Haywood, Joe Hill – they’re all here, but sections on Black Wobblies, the Mexican Agrarian Revolt and 21st Century Wobblies may be less familiar. The world of the Wobblies was realised in its best moments by solidarity across race, ethnic, gender and nationality lines, and if ever there was a time when we needed to connect with that rich radical tradition here in the UK, it’s now.