During the 1970s radical politics in France underwent major changes, transformed by the rise of the Socialist Party, the decline of the Communists, and the loss of faith in Marxism. These changes, together with the lessened impact of the industrial proletariat and the problems presented by Mitterrand's sweeping Socialist victory in 1981, signalled a veritable turning point in modern French history. This book offers a historical and political analysis of the history of labor, Socialism, and Communism in France since the Revolution, an analysis that is essential for understanding recent French political developments. Unlike most books, which treat labor, Socialist and Communist history separately and view French Marxism as a self-contained philosophical phenomenon, Marxism and the French Left offers a refreshingly different approach to the subject. Judt emphasizes the complex and interwoven themes that unify the topics of his essays to construct a distinctive and original interpretation of French left-wing politics over the past 150 years.

From the depression of the 1890s through World War I, construction tradesman held an important place in San Francisco's economic, political, and social life. Michael Kazin's award-winning study delves into how the city’s Building Trades Council (BTC) created, accumulated, used, and lost their power. He traces the rise of the BTC into a force that helped govern San Francisco, controlled its potential progress, and articulated an ideology that made sense of the changes sweeping the West and the country. Believing themselves the equals of officeholders and corporate managers, these working and retired craftsmen pursued and protected their own power while challenging conservatives and urban elites for the right to govern. What emerges is a long-overdue look at building trades as a force in labor history within the dramatic story of how the city's 25,000 building workers exercised power on the job site and within the halls of government, until the forces of reaction all but destroyed the BTC.