Ole Hanson served as Seattle's mayor at a pivotal time: communists infiltrated the city's labour unions, and within months staged a general strike and revolution - this is Hanson's personal account of defeating the uprising.

Buoyed by the success of the 1917 Revolution in Russia, ambitious communists hoped that a revolutionary chain reaction would ensue across the world, including in the United States. The prosperous port city of Seattle, with its sizable dock and industry, became a flashpoint in the movement. The city's labour unions were infiltrated and radicalized by communists, who hatched a plot to overthrow the local government through crippling strike action. The attempt was only thwarted by city hall's total refusal to grant any concession, backed by thousands of American soldiers.

The author goes on to discuss the history of communist movements, and how they arose in countries with mass poverty coupled with abysmal government. He constructively suggests many measures that the US can take to guard against future actions by communists; for example the control of rising living costs and the dollar's inflation, sustained investment in education and increases to teachers' pay, plus fighting corruption in certain industries.