The Rambling Kid

Soapboxer, writer, poet, agitator, and publicist, the British-born Ashleigh was active in the IWW from 1912 until his deportation nine years later. As a first-hand account of the Wobbly way of life in the 1910s, The Rambling Kid has few equals.

Charles Ashleigh's semi-autobiographical novel fills a void in the record of the events that led to the federal government's brutal attempts to suppress the 'One Big Union' during World War I. Ashleigh's characters ride alongside IWW job delegates, bindle-stiffs, and gandy dancers as they crisscross the country hopping freight trains en route to jobs and strikes and everything in between.

An intimate glimpse into pre-World War I workers' culture on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Steve Kellerman's superb introduction provides the critical and biographical context for understanding the importance of Ashleigh's work and the historical forces that produced The Rambling Kid.