From The Northwest Labor Press:
"'Crucible,' John Sayles’ new novel about the world of Henry Ford, has special relevance to today’s political turmoil. Henry Ford was the Elon Musk of his day. Both men revolutionized the capitalist production system and created new products for mass consumption. Both espoused conspiratorial political ideas. Both flirted with right-wing nationalism. And both were adamantly opposed to the American labor movement.
"In film and literary fiction, Sayles has been an artful chronicler of class, race, and ethnicity in America for 50 years. Movies like 'Return of the Secaucus Seven' (1980), 'Matewan' (1987), and 'Eight Men Out' (1988) explore the hardships and privileges of society. His novel Union Dues (1977) is an on-the-ground look at the Miners for Democracy movement and the New Left activism of the early 1970s.
"Crucible” takes place in Detroit from the Stock Market Crash of 1929 until 1945. It’s populated by a cast of fictional characters who interact with real figures of the day. Henry Ford is the power behind the empire, but his ruthless lieutenant Harry Bennett drives the narrative. Bennett heads what amounts to the world’s largest private security firm, designed to prevent the unionization of Ford...
"Up against Bennett are the UAW’s Reuther brothers; Rosa, a young Communist Party member; and Kovacs, a first-generation Polish-American."
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