Describes the violent Pullman strike of 1894 which closed railroads across the midwestern United States and which made the nation's leaders see the need for addressing the concerns of the country's workers.

Details how a labor dispute in Chicago during 1894 progressed into a strike which held up train service in twenty-seven states.

A historical account of the 1894 strike of railway workers

The Pullman Strike of 1894 threatened an entire nation with social and economic upheaval. Describing both its immediate results in business and its far-reaching effects on trade unionism, the author treats the dramatic story of the strike no as an isolated conflict, but as a culminating explosion in labor-capital relations. Woven into the narrative is the rise and decline of the extraordinary Pullman experiment. To all outward appearances a philanthropic project conceived by a generous employer for his employees, the "model town" of George Pullman developed into a kind of medieval barony, operated with an iron hand. This experiment is carefully traced in all its varying aspects, with emphasis on its contribution to the origin of the strike.

Discusses the people and events involved in the unsuccessful but influential strike by railroad workers at the Pullman Company in Chicago in 1894.