IN THE THICK OF IT is a biographical sketch of a teenage boy forced to leave school as the Civil War is about to begin. Joining the Union Army as a drummer boy, he survives through three major campaigns over four years.

Landing in the coal counties of Eastern Pennsylvania following the War, 18-year-old C. Ben Johnson builds a career at the confluence of the country's westward expansion, the birth of the industrial revolution, the rise of anthracite coal and the steel industry, the historic wave of European immigrants to work in the mines and mills, and the area's economic boom.

Making effective use of superior writing and speaking skills, C. Ben Johnson devotes four decades to championing the betterment of workers of all walks of life and political persuasions, and to boosting the progress and prosperity of the communities around him.

Without family or financial wealth or connections on which to draw, his leadership skills, diligence, and persuasive personality make C. Ben Johnson a positive and influential force in the region's economy and in the early labor union movement across the country.