'Rats and Revolutionaries': The Labour Movement in Australia and New Zealand, 1890-1940 (Otago History)

Normally historians do not consider Australia and New Zealand as having a common experience, but Bennett (U. of Aukland) takes careful note of the labour movement that took hold of both countries for about 50 years, beginning in the 1890s. He explains how labour organising became a multinational entity as groups from both countries supported each other's strikes, followed each other's efforts in arbitration, and used each other's experiences in organisation to move toward progress in unionisation. Bennett examines the large number of separate groups that appeared to keep a close eye on each other as the world moved toward the Depression and on to the Second World War, events that substantially changed the labour movements in both countries.