First published by Red Rag Publications in 2005.

Includes index.

Bibliography: pages 143-156.

1. Our infant might: Working class struggle before the gold rushes -- 2. A power in the land: Australian unions, 1865-1890 -- 3. Crisis and incorporation: Labour in the 1890s -- 4. Sex, class and the road to women's suffrage -- 5. Race, class and the road to White Australia.

Australian socialist writer Tom O'Lincoln's latest work contains five essays. The first three cover the history of Australian organised labour from convict times up to Federation. The fourth covers gender and class, with the final essay discussing race and class.