Interesting subject for sure, but this book was pitched a little bit low for my taste. This probably reflects that I'm familiar with most of the (relatively scarce) generally available literature on the subject of labor unrest in the United States. I prefer my labor unrest western-style, and this book is very much an eastern affair.

The Wall Street bombing of September 16, 1920, is an excellent example of the vicissitudes of historical memory. A dramatic terrorist event that captured the nation's attention, it subsequently receded to little more than a footnote before the September 11 World Trade Center attacks once more revived public interest. Today's reader probably cannot help but view the Wall Street bombing through the perspective of modern events, yet in her introduction, Beverley Gage states that her interest in the earlier attack predated 9/11, being stimulated not just by the relative paucity of awareness of it but in the reaction of a much different time to the event.

It is this perspective which informs her approach. Beginning with a description of the events of September 16, she proceeds to set up a background for the bombing, describing the decades-long experience Americans of that time had with explosive-fueled terrorism. Left-wing radicals instigated much of this terrorism, and her book spends several chapters describing this history. Though the history she describes is interesting, the Wall Street bombing gets lost in these pages, only returning when Gage turns to the ultimately fruitless investigation of the event, an investigation that dominates the remainder of the book.

Gage's book offers a good summary of the history of the Wall Street bombing, one that serves as a reminder of how much the nation has changed over the course of the century. Yet ultimately it feels incomplete, partly because the question of who was responsible for the bombing has never been answered, but also because Gage's effort to provide context distracts from the event itself. Nevertheless, for anyone seeking to learn about the New York City bombing of a bygone era, this is the book to read.