This sentiment from one of the founders of the International Workers of the World ("IWW"), better known as the Wobblies, captures the underlying spirit that permeated their existence. It also captures the spirit of the entertaining and informative "Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World". For those not familiar with the Wobblies, some brief background information may be helpful.

The IWW was created at a convention in Chicago, in the U.S. in June 1905. In attendance were some of the leading figures in the American labor movement. The disparate groups who came together to form the IWW shared two common bonds: a disdain for the elite, seemingly pro-capitalist craft unions that made up the American Federation of Labor (AFL); and a belief in the necessity of `the class struggle'. Membership in the IWW was open to all workers. This stood in stark contrast to the tough entry requirements of the AFL's craft unions. The IWW, unlike the AFL, welcomed both women and racial minorities into its ranks. As a result, the IWW may be said to have created the first `rainbow coalition' of American political thought. There were socialists, anarchists, communists, syndicalists, and just about every type of `ist' one can imagine in the IWW. Membership grew rapidly in the early days of the movement and the IWW became much feared by the corporations they did battle with and loomed large in the public imagination. John Dos Passos captured the IWW beautifully in his landmark USA Trilogy. At the same time, the fragmented ideology of its membership resulted in quite a bit of internal strife and the somewhat anarchic nature of the IWW as an organization created some difficulties for it. The IWW's growth reached its peak in the days leading up to the 1917 entrance of the United States into the First World War. The war and the subsequent `Red Square' following the Russian Revolution led to a series of federal legislative and judicial measures that hampered severely the IWW's organizing activities.

"Wobblies!" is at once both an entertaining and informative graphic history of the IWW. This is not a full blown, chronological history. Edited by Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman, both of whom have deep connections to what may be called the American Left, Wobblies! consists of a series of illustrated vignettes of notable events in the history of the IWW. Virtually all the writers and graphic artists who contributed to Wobblies! have roots in or sympathy with contemporary radical political action groups. I found the simple story lines to be coherent and I found the graphic artwork to be excellent.

The stories seem a bit random and the narrative lacks a certain element of continuity at times. Yet these elements struck me as being fully consistent with the rather chaotic nature of the IWW itself and I found it to be amusing rather than annoying. Further, the reliance on graphics seemed to be an appropriate vehicle to tell the story of the IWW. Significant portions of its membership were immigrants to the U.S. who either did not speak English or who were illiterate. The IWW relied heavily on oral and visual means to promote itself. With that in mind the use of graphics to tell the story of the Wobblies seemed perfect.

This book may only find favor with readers politically pre-disposed to the IWW. In a sense that would be a shame. I think the graphics and the information contained in Wobblies! could appeal to a wider audience who either like graphic artwork generally or who are interested in a work that happens to tell some stories in a compelling manner of a by gone era. This is particularly true for readers in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe who may not be aware that at some point in time issues of class, not to mention radical politics, actually did play significant role in American history. That may be hard to imagine given the present political climate which does, I suppose, lend some weight to the underlying value of Wobblies!