Reviews
A thorough, readable discussion of 20th-century deindustrialization.
--Choice
Koistinen challenges commonly held ideas about when and where deindustrialization began, and argues that contemporary responses to industrial decline have a much longer history than scholars have recognized.
--EH-Net
Koistinen superbly demonstrates that efforts by public and private groups to counter de-industrialization had little, if any, impact… this book, therefore, is an important contribution to the literature on the political economy of de-industrialization, a topic that continues to recur as industries rise and decline.
--Economic History Review
This book is a welcome addition to the literature of deindustrialization, and I advise anyone interested in the current political debate regarding a revival of U.S. manufacturing to read it.
--The New England Quarterly
A short review cannot do justice to the wealth of information and breadth of research Koistinen marshals in this case study.
--Journal of Economic History
Confronting Decline is a valuable contribution to a historiography that will grow increasingly relevant as globalization and deindustrialization continue to reshape the American economy in the twenty-first century.
--The Journal of American History
David Koistinen reminds us that New England was in the forefront of both the Industrial Revolution and the plant closings of the twentieth century.
--Labor Studies Journal
Deserves a wide readership for the author’s attention to the politics of deindustrialization.
--American Historical Review
An important contribution to the literature on deindustrialization. [Koistinen] reminds us, first, that history continues far beyond the drama of plant closings, and . . . that looking through a longer lens allows us to view important connections that had remained hidden. -- Second, as scholars are increasingly exploring firms and the larger business community as historical actors, he demonstrates the power of a political economic analysis.
--Journal of American Studies
A tightly and clearly developed history of deindustrialization in twentieth century Massachusetts.
--Historical Journal of Massachusetts