«In the Interest of Democracy»

Quenby Olmsted Hughes is an Associate Professor of History at Rhode Island College. She received her PhD in American History from Harvard University.

• Contents: «In the Lead of the World:» From the Birth of the American Federation of Labor in the 1880s to Jay Lovestone’s Expulsion from the CPUSA – «There’ll Be a Revolution:» Industrial Unionism, Communism and Lovestone’s Shift to the Right – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Enter the Free Trade Union Committee and the Central Intelligence Agency – «Fertile Fields:» The Free Trade Union Committee in France – «A Certain Strategic Emergency:» The Free Trade Union Committee, the United Nations and the Issue of Slave Labor – «People Speaking to People:» Labor’s Role in the Radio Free Europe and with the National Committee for a Free Europe – «AFL Stooges:» The Unraveling of the Relationship Between the Free Trade Union Committee and the National Committee for a Free Europe – «Allies and Not Agents:» The Decline of the Relationship between the Free Trade Union Committee and the Central Intelligence Agency.

«Hughes’ Buch ist der Beweis dafür, dass einfache, aber fleissige Quellenstudien nach wie vor am ehesten zu beachtenswerten neuen historischen Erkenntnissen führen. Ebenso zeigt die Autorin, dass man solche Erkenntnisse auch darstellen kann, ohne end- und planlos zu zitieren und dicke Bände zu füllen. Und last but not least bietet ‘In the Interest of Democracy’ eine hoch interessante Lehrstunde zum Thema Pragmatismus und Integrität von Gewerkschaften.» (Wolfgang Kaufmann, Das Historisch-Politische Buch 61, 2013/1)