Flesh and Blood So Cheap

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy (2011) is a historical nonfiction book intended for an audience of young readers. It was written by Albert Marrin, a former history professor and author of dozens of historical nonfiction books.

Marrin, whose academic focus was on liberty under the law, wrote often about times of suffering and movements for liberation, including The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution (1988), Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl (2009), and Uprooted: The Japanese American (2016).

Flesh and Blood So Cheap was published 100 years after the fire it depicts. The book won awards, including the Booklist Editors’ Choice in 2011 and the Amelia Bloomer Book List award in 2012. Marrin has received the James Madison Book Award for lifetime achievement and the National Endowment for Humanities Medal.

This guide uses the Kindle e-book edition of the book.

Content Warning: The book contains graphic depictions of human suffering and loss of life due to inequality, poor living conditions, and fire.

Summary

Flesh and Blood So Cheap tells the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which remained New York’s deadliest workplace incident until the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.