Dead Laws for Dead Men

An unsettling book. Curran's message is that concerted efforts to use the law to regulate working conditions in this very dangerous industry have failed. It is also an illuminating book. Curran skillfully exposes political, economic, and social forces that . . . paralyze efforts to implement legislative remedies.

The book integrates changing theories of the state, the shifting role of labor, and the transformation of the work process into a larger understanding of the evolution of legislation. . . . a very useful book.

Curran argues that a century of federal legislation 'has done little to change conditions in the coal mines.' Since 1900, more than 100,000 men and women have died in mining disasters. Millions more have been disabled by accidents and industrial diseases, especially black lung. . . . an eye-opener about what has long been a major industry for this region.