Heather Ann Thompson is Professor of History at the University of Michigan. She is the Pulitzer- and Bancroft-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, Salon, Dissent, New Labor Forum, and The Huffington Post.

• Prologue to the 2017 Printing Introduction: Reassessing the Fate of Postwar Cities, Politics, and Labor 1. Beyond Racial Polarization: Political Complexity in the City and Labor Movement of the 1950s 2. Optimism and Crisis in the New Liberal Metropolis 3. Driving Desperation on the Auto Shop Floor 4. Citizens, Politicians, and the Escalating War for Detroit's Civic Future 5. Workers, Officials, and the Escalating War for Detroit's Labor Future 6. From Battles on City Streets to Clashes in the Courtroom 7. From Fights for Union Office to Wildcats in the Workplace 8. Urban Realignment and Labor Retrenchment: An End to Detroit's War at Home Conclusion: Civic Transformation and Labor Movement Decline in Postwar Urban America Epilogue

Thompson illuminates themes of race, labor, and politics in Detroit's history during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, revealing much about the interplay of forces central to American life.... Thompson presents a vivid portrait of key courtroom battles against racial injustice.... This first-rate contribution to a better understanding of the dynamics shaping US cities captures the flavor and drama of the Detroit struggle.(Choice) Thompson uses Detroit in the 1960s and early 1970s to consider how the battles for civil and workers rights have shaped American cities. There's plenty here for readers eager to think deeply about our hometown's challenges.(Detroit Free Press) Thompson's engrossing work challenges an array of interpretations about postwar urban America, race relations, labor relations, the triumph of Reagan conservatism, and more. Essential for any collection on the history, politics, or society of post-World War II America.(Library Journal) Thompson's study is a triumph of social and political history. She connects in a most engaging style events on the street, the factory floor, and the courtroom, and convincingly shows the political realignments that have remade Detroit.(Labour/Le Travail)