Mother Jones is legendary. Her courageous and unrelenting militancy, spirited and quotable speeches, and gutsy flaunting of convention have made her a hero for twentieth century labor organizers, feminists, and social justice activists. In this captivating biography, Elliott Gorn illuminates Mother Jones by uncovering her self-created persona whom the author contextualizes in the contours of social and political history. Gorn's arguments are constructed around two main themes: How gender identity determined Jones' work and how historical truth and the creation of myth bolstered her causes.