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Rating: 
Summary: Awful book on a great subject
Review: Disorganized, laughably trendy in language, completely without a discernable argument, and remarkably passionless in describing momentous historical movements. Green chooses a great subject--the effects of the textile industry on the working classes in New York and Paris--does significant primary and secondary research, and then completely botches the write-up. Even graduate students doing the same type of research will have a hard time getting anything out of this book. Avoid at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Awful book on a great subject
Review: Disorganized, laughably trendy in language, completely without a discernable argument, and remarkably passionless in describing momentous historical movements. Green chooses a great subject--the effects of the textile industry on the working classes in New York and Paris--does significant primary and secondary research, and then completely botches the write-up. Even graduate students doing the same type of research will have a hard time getting anything out of this book. Avoid at all costs.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating topic, fascinating book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Work", Nancy L. Green's erudite and expansive study of a century of the garment industry in Paris and New York. I've worn clothes for most of my life, but never knew much about where they come from. Now I do. Clothes don't come from stores-- they come from people, piece by piece. People with a story to tell. Green's vastly-researched work is not only a history of the people, usually immigrants, often Jews, who have populated the garment industry. It is also a social history, an economic history and a technological history. The book is not an easy read-- it is a complex analysis of complex topics-- but it is a worthwhile read. Green successfully weaves the topics into a fabric of consistently excellent quality from beginning to end. I found the book fascinating. I recommend it to anyone who wears clothes. Naked people probably won't be interested.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating topic, fascinating book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Work", Nancy L. Green's erudite and expansive study of a century of the garment industry in Paris and New York. I've worn clothes for most of my life, but never knew much about where they come from. Now I do. Clothes don't come from stores-- they come from people, piece by piece. People with a story to tell. Green's vastly-researched work is not only a history of the people, usually immigrants, often Jews, who have populated the garment industry. It is also a social history, an economic history and a technological history. The book is not an easy read-- it is a complex analysis of complex topics-- but it is a worthwhile read. Green successfully weaves the topics into a fabric of consistently excellent quality from beginning to end. I found the book fascinating. I recommend it to anyone who wears clothes. Naked people probably won't be interested.
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