In the western Pennsylvanian coalfields in the years following the First World War, immigrants from central and eastern Europe are allotted to separate quarters to ensure lack of communication. Starvation wages are offered to the miners and their families are obliged to live in the company town, where all expenditure returns to the company. Unions are banned and health and safety a very low priority. In these circumstances, striking is an action of both immense bravery and desperation. In Buckets of Blood, The Ragman’s War, R.S. Sukle has recreated the true story of the 1927-8 strike with which she has a strong family connection. The result is a compelling story of the struggle of workers for decent pay and respect and the chilling armed response of the company – involving agent provocateurs, organised violence and the calculated use of rape as a weapon.

 

The history of the working classes is an important part of every country’s history and it is one that is too often forgotten. This is especially true of the struggle for working conditions which took so long to achieve and which is constantly under threat from ‘deregulation’ and the spectre of outsourcing. The author locates her story in the tradition of Robert Tressell’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, which remains as one of the central texts in the study of working class life and work. And like Tressell, she makes her story readable and her characters believable.

 

The central figures are the Ragman himself, a war hero and a man often consumed by rage and frustration, and the two brothers whose character frames him. There is the older Irvin, a gentle giant who refuses to respond to violence and who works like a Stakhanovite. Then there is younger brother Albert, who was a boxing champion in the Marines and whose hunger for life is opposite to Irvin’s stoicism. They and their families are targeted by the vile Coal and Iron Police leader Bucholtz, who has been imported from a German prison to lead the company’s dirty work. While these characters contend with each other, the rest of the community contends with the endless slow war against hunger, cold and ignorance.

 

This book, like all books, is not perfect. The contrast between the Ragman and Bucholtz is too obviously manufactured and the attempt to explain the policeman’s motives unnecessary. I would have preferred more discussion of union politics and the role of local Communists in supporting the strike. However, this may be contained in the author’s forthcoming memoir of her father, which is said to be forthcoming and which should provide more context for the events described here. Recommended.

 

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Bucket of Blood, The Ragman’s War

The above review was contributed by: John Walsh PhD:  Professor at Shinawatra International University CLICK TO VIEW John Walsh's Reviews

Click Image Below To Find Out More About This Book (Note: May Not Work With All Browsers)