Part one. Facing depression, fascism, and war. Britain: Labour's long apprenticeship
(An uncertain ascent: fro 1900 to the Depression decade
Facing the Depression
Facing aggressive fascism: from pacifism to rearmament
War and coalition
Labour's wartime presence: Civil defense ; The mobilization of workers
The limits of coalition
The Beveridge Report and its aftermath)
The travails of the French Left
(Pillars of the modern French Left: the CGT and the Socialist Party
A fractured Left, 1919-1934
From schism to unity
The triumph of the Popular Front
The collapse of the Popular Front
Facing international fascism and flinching
The fall of France and the French Republic
Stirrings of resistance
Forging a unified resistance
The Common Program of the CNR)
The Roosevelt era: from the New Deal to D-Day
(Progressivism and normalcy
The rise of Franklin Roosevelt
The first New Deal
Social security
Federal work relief
Labor on the move
Steelworkers and autoworkers
The New Deal peaks and falters
America faces European fascism
The Election of 1940 and the clouds of war
Labor and economic mobilization for war
Strains in Labor's grand bargain).

Part two. Descent from victory: charting new paths. Labour's moment: the election of 1945 and after
(Hopes and fears
Toward the 1945 election
The General Election of 1945
Two new faces in Parliament
The Labour government: hopes and challenges
Short of dollars and coal
The three economic battles
The Labour government and the unions)
Starting over, with De Gaulle or without him
(Liberation and provisional government
The purges
Mendès France: "redress and reconstruction"
The regrouping of political forces: the Consultative Assembly
Regrouping of political forces: communists and socialists
Future of the Resistance
Birth of the MRP
Elections and more elections
From provisional rule to democracy
The Constituent Assembly
A second try)
Postwar prospects in the U.S.
(Two progressive visions
To keep or drop Vice President Wallace?
The Election of 1944: FDR's fourth term
The challenges of reconversion
Big labor and big business
Postwar strike wave
The battle over price controls
The elusive ideal of full employment
The G.I. Bill of Rights
The Election of 1946 and after
Taft-Hartley).

Part three. Struggles and outcomes. Building socialism British style
(Addressing the housing deficit
Education: taproot of inequality?
Forging a national health service
Public ownership revisited
The Election of 1950
New rivals: Bevan and Gaitskell)
Tripartism and its aftermath
(Launching the Fourth Republic
Food supplies, prices and wages
Expanding social security
The stillbirth of educational reform
Reconstruction and housing
Tripartism and its discontents: The MRP ; The socialists ; The PCF
From tripartism to the Third Force
The strike waves of 1947 and 1948
Another schism in the House of Labor)
The United States: divided government, divided nation
(Progressives in the postwar moment: the case of the AVC
The CIO and its communists
The CIO and race
Who speaks for the liberals?
Wallace and the Progressive Party
Truman on the move
Truman loyalty boards
Election Day 1948
Civil rights in the postwar moment
Desegregating the armed forces
Truman's stewardship of the New Deal legacy
Federal aid to education?)
Conclusion: Three scenarios, one story?
(Equivocal responses to aggressive fascism
Domestic unity in wartime
Into the postwar moment: the economic sphere
Three versions of postwar politics
Unions and governments
Communism, organized labor, and political culture
Reflections on the long game).