This is the first work by Brian Merchant I’ve read (that I’m aware of–he is also the tech columnist for the Los Angeles Times). Personally, I’m a notoriously slow and easily distracted reader, and I’ve always struggled with keeping track of names and other key historical details. But I was pleasantly surprised at how clear and smooth the storytelling was, even for me. Merchant has taken a staggering amount of original research and laid out a wrought-iron narrative of a pioneering labor rights movement that sprang up organically in a multi-pronged fight for the rights of people to work hard and earn a dignified living, taking pride in the quality of their work. 

Yes! I didn’t know this either–the Luddites weren’t just stubborn backwater tech haters. They were originally an organized, community-based worker’s rights movement in the face of the Industrial Revolution in the textile industry in England. And contrary to what the term “Luddite” has evolved (been made to evolve?) to in our modern language, the technology was not what the Luddites stood against. No, they fought against the greed of a select few capitalists who sought to add to their wealth at the expense of their community and the safety of the vulnerable–children, the disabled, the poor. Sound familiar?

You’ll see how impressive the narrative writing was when you read it; this was a movement that was fought in multiple theaters. From the House of Lords in Parliament to the textile towns in the countryside and the markets that fed the workers who lived there, this was a multi-faceted and complex movement that Merchant was able to illustrate in a clear, straightforward style. Crucially, he even manages to tie it into today’s technology, its billionaires, and their relationship to the labor they exploit. I highly recommend it, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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