Will I love The Cold Millions?

I was curious about the moment that the story was depicting before I started reading it. I sort of knew what ultimately happened, but now I feel like I lived it. That's what's so great about historical fiction written by someone who can capture how the moment truly felt by people/characters who were actually experiencing it. Walter writes so well, that learning about the labor movement of that era, which would generally be things to study as a history lesson, became an American chapter worthy of a binge. I was consumed by the entire time I was reading it.

A tale of labor unrest in the hardscrabble frontier of northwestern America sounds anything but fun or funny, but Walter explores the lives of miners, railroad workers, and Vaudeville performers with surprising verve and a glint of humor on nearly every page.

Set mostly in and around Spokane in the years between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, this sweeping, satisfying story follows a pair of working-class brothers as they confront corrupt lawmen, scheming actresses, and violent union-busters.

This might be the most powerful novel about U.S. working conditions since Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle; if I were president of the AFL-CIO, I would hand out copies at every picket line. But beyond its moral force, this is also a beautiful, page-turning story of loyalty between two young Irish-American brothers, Gig and Rye Dolan, who arrive penniless in Spokane, Washington, in the early 1900s hoping to find jobs. As they get caught up in the violent battles pitting workers against mine owners and the corrupt local police, Gig and Rye are each drawn to union activism in a… show more.