Process and Providence: The Evolution Question at Princeton, 1845 1929
ment was called in to break the picket lines, the strike took its ugliest turn. However, in the end, the WMUA could not hold out against state intervention, the UMWA, and the mine operators seeking to return to business as usual. Bullock concludes his study with an examination of the court proceedings that followed the strike. One of the advantages that local histories have over historical studies with a larger scope is that they can humanize a conflict in a way that is difficult for other scholarly works. The personal dramas that, in this case, resulted in a shooting and other incidents of violence and intimidation can be easily overlooked in other types of historical scholarship. As a local history, Coal Wars can appeal to a broad audience that is both popular and scholarly. Bullock's study compares favorably to Laurie Mercier's Anaconda: Labor, Community, and Culture in Montana's Smelter City (University of Illinois Press, 2001) and, perhaps, even more so, to Bonnie Christensen's Red Lodge and the Mythic West: Coal Miners to Cowboys (University Press of Kansas, 2002) Although Coal Wars has more modest goals than either Anaconda or Red Lodge, it could be useful in university courses that focus on the history of the Pacific Northwest, the American West, and labor history.