At the height of Boston’s school desegregation crisis in the mid-70’s, a sprawling shipyard south of the city scrambles to hire thousands of workers from its historical white strongholds. But for the first time, labor laws also mandate bringing on hundreds of black applicants from the inner city. Fresh from the projects and a tour in Vietnam, Mike Shea encounters a ruthless company and a union leadership whose militancy has faded with the years. Shea reaches across the yard’s explosive color line to join and then lead a movement for justice and respect.

When contracts for marine tankers are cancelled management ratchets down on the workforce, igniting chaos and fear throughout the yard. Then a dangerously damaged tanker limps into the yard, triggering hope for new work but forcing Shea and the welders to choose between risking their lives and losing their jobs.

Nine years as a shipyard welder, union activist and elected union officer inspired Goliath At Sunset, Jonathan Brandow’s novel of the American working class: black, white and brown; male and female; gay and straight; proud of work, in terror of the future. Full of love—and rage.

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