Books for Labor Day

By Coll Rowe | August 28 2025 | HistoryLabor StudiesPolitical Science

Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. We remember workers who have organized and fought throughout the labor movement to give workers the protections they have today, and those who continue to fight for equal and fair labor. The following books offer history and analysis of the labor movement and the working class.

Working and Homeless in America
9780593237144
Through the unforgettable stories of five Atlanta families, this landmark work of journalism exposes a new and troubling trend—the dramatic rise of the “working homeless” in cities across America.
$30.00 US
Mar 25, 2025
Hardcover
448 Pages
Crown

From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work
9780425267271

Award-winning journalist Jeanne Marie Laskas reveals “enlightening, entertaining, and often poignant” profiles of America’s working class—the forgotten men and women who make our country run.

$24.00 US
Sep 03, 2013
Paperback
336 Pages
Berkley

A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown
9781984881533

A vivid window into the world of working class men set during the Bakken fracking boom in North Dakota.

$18.00 US
Feb 15, 2022
Paperback
464 Pages
Penguin Books

A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots
9780525561774

A revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work by leading anthropologist James Suzman.

$18.00 US
Jan 18, 2022
Paperback
464 Pages
Penguin Books

The Untold Story of Public Service
9798217047802
Who works for the government and what do they do? A timely and absorbing civics lesson from an all-star team of writers and storytellers.
$30.00 US
Mar 18, 2025
Hardcover
272 Pages
Riverhead Books