Most antebellum labor studies focus on the transitions brought on by industrialization in northern cities. Diane Barnes's study adds to this historiography a discussion of the impact of the changing industrial order on both white and black artisans in an Upper South city. This book also provides a much needed analysis of the complex relationship between white workers and slave labor. Petersburg, Virginia experienced economic development between 1820 and 1860. The city, surrounded by plantation agriculture, industrialized through creation of tobacco factories, iron foundries, textile and flour mills, and canal and rail improvements. Barnes concludes the changing economy impacted all levels of artisans and created a divide between those whose personal and business connections allowed them to become factory owners and merchants and those who were relegated to a lifetime of wage labor. The first group, who Barnes classifies as the rising middle class, were upwardly mobile entrepreneurs whose success allowed them to leave the world of labor and become business owners. However, these successful artisans continued to discuss the dignity of labor because it justified the world from which they came and it pacified journeymen in their shops. Barnes studies the members of the Petersburg Benevolent Mechanic Association (PBMA) to understand the thoughts and experiences of these upwardly mobile artisans. The organization, whose membership was dominated by the successful, expressed political ideas, provided educational opportunities, and offered a safety net for its members. All but one percent of the PBMA members owned slaves. These artisans also held positions in local politics.

Barnes also looks at artisans who were somewhere in the middle between the PBMA members and unskilled laborers. Some of the middling-level artisans experienced economic success and were able to purchase property, although not often slaves. Most of the middle-level artisans were those in the transportation and service industries whose trades expanded during this time, but the opportunities for advancement were few. These workers had higher mobility rates than the PBMA members, often leaving the city for a better opportunity. Both levels of artisans valued the republican ideas from the Revolution which glorified virtue, citizenship, and independence. When hard times came to the middling group, they tended to blame the use of slaves in skilled trades. Their attitude toward slavery was complicated. Slaves were blamed for problems, but the protests were mild such as legislative petition and never directed against the institution of slavery itself. Many white artisans aspired to become slave owners and regardless of how dire the white workers' economic status became, their whiteness kept them above blacks. Many of these artisans also split their time between working in the city and on local plantations, which made criticizing the institution of slavery difficult. Many workers worked in a racially mixed work environment. Barnes points out with the color lines firmly drawn in Petersburg; racial tension between workers did not exist as it did in northern cities.

Many of Petersburg's workers did not fall into either of Barnes's two groups. About 11 percent of Petersburg's workforce consisted of foreign-born workers, although a significant amount, it is lower than most Southern cities and too small for ethnic neighborhoods to develop. The more significant group were African Americans who, before 1860, outnumbered whites in Petersburg. The second half of this book focuses on the changes industrialization brought to the institution of slavery and one of the largest free black societies in the South. As many as 292 free blacks had skilled jobs and several experienced economic prosperity and property ownership. Some African American business owners owned or leased slaves. Slave labor, some of which the owners leased from the surrounding plantations, dominated tobacco factories and iron foundries.

Barnes proved that Petersburg was a good choice in looking at the impact of industrialization on both white and black labor. The book is well researched and Barnes does such a thorough job of discussing her findings, in light of other historical work on both Northern and Southern cities, that the book also serves as a synthesis of antebellum labor history. However, there were two areas that need more discussion. Her study of the upwardly mobile artisans is limited to the members of the PBMA. Were there upwardly mobile entrepreneurs who did not join the association? In other Southern cities, particularly Charleston, the mechanics' society faced stiff competition for members from ethnic societies, occupationally based societies, and other charitable and social organizations. How many people who could have joined based on background and wealth statistics did not join? Were there differences in non-members' attitudes, particularly in regards to how they defined republicanism and the glorification of manual labor? Suzanne Lebsock's Free Women of Petersburg (New York: W. W. Norton, 1985) thoroughly discusses free women in Petersburg, which could explain why Barnes never mentions women workers, free or slave. Barnes's book suffers from not mentioning women. A short discussion, similar to the material included on immigrant labor, might have made the study more complete. Overall, this is a well-researched book and a valuable contribution to both Southern and labor history.