This history of New York transit workers from the Great Depression through the monumental 1966 transit strike is one of the most detailed reconstructions to date of the social processes of industrial unionism. It traces the rise of the Transport Workers Union and the virtual revolution it brought about for the men and women who operated the world's largest transit system. It is also a story of politics: the role of Communists in leading the union, the union's relationships with Mayors from la Guardia to Lindsay, and the intense debate over public sector unionism.