"On a misty April morning at the rugged docks of South Boston, twenty-seven-year-old FDA marine biologist Kate Finn discovers her father's best friend, a fellow commercial fisherman, dead in his boat at Fish Pier. A tinted green codfish is stuffed inside his slicker and his lips are smeared with the same unidentifiable green liquid. Soon her father is charged with the murder. Kate vows to clear his name" -- cover, page [4]
The Docks is an eye-opening journey into a giant madhouse of activity that few outsiders ever see: the Port of Los Angeles. In a book woven throughout with riveting novelist detail and illustrated with photographs that capture the frenetic energy of the place, Bill Sharpsteen tells the story of the people who have made this port, the largest in the country, one of the nation’s most vital economic enterprises. Among others, we meet a pilot who parks ships, one of the first women longshoremen, union officials and employers at odds over almost everything, an environmental activist fighting air pollution in the "diesel death zone," and those with the nearly impossible job of enforcing security. Together these stories paint a compelling picture of a critical entryway for goods coming into the country—the Port of Los Angeles is part of a complex that brings in 40% of all our waterborne cargo and 70% of all Asian imports—yet one that is also extremely vulnerable. The Docks is a rare look at a world within our world in which we find a microcosm of the labor, environmental, and security issues we collectively face.
In the opening pages of Moby Dick, Herman Melville called New Bedford, Massachusetts, “the dearest place to live in, in all of New England.” But the old fishing port and manufacturing center—once one of the richest cities in New England—has withered in the modern economy. Its once-prosperous fishermen now struggle with government regulations and fished-out seas, while its empty factories now offer more work to the Fire Department than anyone else. In Down at the Docks, Rory Nugent tells the “riches to rags” story of this iconic American town through beautifully told and unsentimental portraits of its residents. Their lives inform a eulogy to the distinctive ideas, traditions, and culture that is about to disappear from the waterfront.
Thomas is visiting the docks and is amazed at how busy all of his friends are! He wants to help out, but the other engines say they can do it on their own. It takes a big accident for Thomas to be able to prove what a Really Useful Engine he can be. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Over the past fifteen years, many of the world's biggest technology firms have opened offices in Dublin. But just how did the Irish government convince the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to set up bases in Ireland? Find out how a series of last-minute negotiations between the IDA and Google convinced Sergey Brin and Larry Page to locate their European headquarters in Ireland instead of Switzerland. Discover the difficulty Facebook faced when it tried to register its company name in Ireland, as another firm had a similar name. Learn how a tweet to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone helped woo the social media platform. In Silicon Docks, a team of Irish journalists tell the inside story of how Dublin's decaying docklands were transformed into a hub for tech companies wanting to expand into Europe, and how attracting such firms helped kick-start Ireland's very own entrepreneurial boom. Tax is top of the agenda as Ireland fights off competition from other countries to be Europe's answer to Silicon Valley, but could changes on the horizon see government plans to attract more tech players unravel?
The Docks is an eye-opening journey into a giant madhouse of activity that few outsiders ever see: the Port of Los Angeles. In a book woven throughout with riveting novelist detail and illustrated with photographs that capture the frenetic energy of the place, Bill Sharpsteen tells the story of the people who have made this port, the largest in the country, one of the nation’s most vital economic enterprises. Among others, we meet a pilot who parks ships, one of the first women longshoremen, union officials and employers at odds over almost everything, an environmental activist fighting air pollution in the “diesel death zone,” and those with the nearly impossible job of enforcing security. Together these stories paint a compelling picture of a critical entryway for goods coming into the country—the Port of Los Angeles is part of a complex that brings in 40% of all our waterborne cargo and 70% of all Asian imports—yet one that is also extremely vulnerable. The Docks is a rare look at a world within our world in which we find a microcosm of the labor, environmental, and security issues we collectively face.
A superb history of labor on the East Coast waterfront that may be the best account we have, not only of the industry, but of any sector of labor relations. Mello combines a thoroughly researched discussion of the behavior of elites--employers, government, and union officials--with a story of the heroic resistance of rank-and-file dockers to the best laid plans of their adversaries.--Stanley Aronowitz, CUNY Graduate Center. There exists a hidden history of post-World War II New York and East Coast waterfront labor relations. During this era, dockworkers fought an ongoing battle against shipping companies, local police, federal and state political authorities, and their own corrupt union leadership. New York Longshoremen reveals how labor relations on the docks were driven from below by radical and reform rank-and-file movements led by communists, Catholics, and local union leaders. William Mello uncovers this little-known history that depicts the impact of state and local politics and political institutions on the labor movement in postwar America. He looks at power and collective action, as well as institutional and social movements, specifically analyzing the intersection of labor and its impact on political development. Interviews, meticulous examinations of newspaper accounts, official reports, rank-and-file newsletters, and oral histories establish the contours of Mello's work. This rich historical account illustrates how ordinary workers defied the combined powers of elites and sporadically imposed their will on labor relations.
