Forging American Communism

Forging American Communism PDF Author: Edward P. Johanningsmeier
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400863678
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 458

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Book Description
A major figure in the history of twentieth-century American radicalism, William Z. Foster (1881-1961) fought his way out of the slums of turn-of-the-century Philadelphia to become a professional revolutionary as well as a notorious and feared labor agitator. Drawing on private family papers, FBI files, and recently opened Russian archives, this first full-scale biography traces Foster's early life as a world traveler, railroad worker, seaman, hobo, union activist, and radical journalist, and also probes the origins and implications of his ill-fated career as a top-echelon Communist official and three-time presidential candidate. Even though Foster's long and eventful life ended in Moscow, where he was given a state funeral in Red Square, he was, as portrayed here, a thoroughly American radical. The book not only reveals the circumstances of Foster's poverty-stricken childhood in Philadelphia, but also vividly describes his work and travels in the American West. Also included are fascinating accounts of his early political career as a Socialist, "Wobbly," and anarcho-syndicalist, and of his activities as the architect of giant organizing campaigns by the American Federation of Labor, involving hundreds of thousands of workers in the meatpacking and steel industries. The author views Foster's influence in the American Communist movement from the perspective of the history of American labor and unionism, but he also offers a realistic assessment of Foster's career in light of factional intrigues at the highest levels of the Communist International. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Forging American Communism

Forging American Communism PDF Author: Edward P. Johanningsmeier
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400863678
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 458

Get Book

Book Description
A major figure in the history of twentieth-century American radicalism, William Z. Foster (1881-1961) fought his way out of the slums of turn-of-the-century Philadelphia to become a professional revolutionary as well as a notorious and feared labor agitator. Drawing on private family papers, FBI files, and recently opened Russian archives, this first full-scale biography traces Foster's early life as a world traveler, railroad worker, seaman, hobo, union activist, and radical journalist, and also probes the origins and implications of his ill-fated career as a top-echelon Communist official and three-time presidential candidate. Even though Foster's long and eventful life ended in Moscow, where he was given a state funeral in Red Square, he was, as portrayed here, a thoroughly American radical. The book not only reveals the circumstances of Foster's poverty-stricken childhood in Philadelphia, but also vividly describes his work and travels in the American West. Also included are fascinating accounts of his early political career as a Socialist, "Wobbly," and anarcho-syndicalist, and of his activities as the architect of giant organizing campaigns by the American Federation of Labor, involving hundreds of thousands of workers in the meatpacking and steel industries. The author views Foster's influence in the American Communist movement from the perspective of the history of American labor and unionism, but he also offers a realistic assessment of Foster's career in light of factional intrigues at the highest levels of the Communist International. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Forging of Finnish-American Communism, 1917-1924

The Forging of Finnish-American Communism, 1917-1924 PDF Author: Auvo Kostiainen
Publisher: Turku : Turin Yliopisto
ISBN:
Category : Communism
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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The Forging of Finnish-American Communism

The Forging of Finnish-American Communism PDF Author: Auvo Kostiainen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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The Roots of American Communism

The Roots of American Communism PDF Author:
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781412838801
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 542

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Book Description
"In his special, prescient way, Theodore Draper himself had the final words on American Communism: "It is like a museum of radical politics. In its various stages, it has virtually been all things to all men ... There are many ways of trying to understand such a movement, but the first task is historical. In some respects, there is no other way to understand it, or at least to avoid seriously misunderstanding it. Every other approach tends to be static, one-sided or unbalanced."" "Draper correctly notes that the formative period of the American Communist movement has remained a largely untold and even unknown story. In part, the reasons for this are that the Communist movement, although a child of the West, grew to power in the Soviet East. But Draper rescues this chapter with deep appreciation for the fact that communism was not something that happened just in Russia, but also in the United States. This is a must read for scholars and laypersons alike."--BOOK JACKET.

Sojourning for Freedom

Sojourning for Freedom PDF Author: Erik S. McDuffie
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822350505
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Illuminates a pathbreaking black radical feminist politics forged by black women leftists active in the U.S. Communist Party between its founding in 1919 and its demise in the 1950s.

I Confess

I Confess PDF Author: Benjamin Gitlow
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1787208664
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 483

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Book Description
In 1940, American socialist-turned-conservatist politician Benjamin Gitlow first published this work of political autobiography, I Confess: The Truth About American Communism. The book proved to be controversial and widely noticed, pushing Gitlow into the public eye as a leading opponent of American Communism. To this day, it remains an important primary document for the study of American Communism in the 1920s and 1930s. “This book is a faithful and, resolutely candid account from the inside—and what is more important, from the top—of a vital phase of recent American history. The history is secret, and might well have remained so but for the extraordinary poise and courage of this man, Ben Gitlow, and his ultimate recovery of clear vision and unmixed devotion to his ideals.”—Max Eastman, Introduction

The Romance of American Communism

The Romance of American Communism PDF Author: Vivian Gornick
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788735528
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Writer and critic Vivian Gornick’s long-unavailable classic exploring how Left politics gave depth and meaning to American life “Before I knew that I was Jewish or a girl I knew that I was a member of the working class.” So begins Vivian Gornick’s exploration of how the world of socialists, communists, and progressives in the 1940s and 1950s created a rich, diverse world where ordinary men and women felt their lives connected to a larger human project. Now back in print after its initial publication in 1977 and with a new introduction by the author, The Romance of American Communism is a landmark work of new journalism, profiling American Communist Party members and fellow travelers as they joined the Party, lived within its orbit, and left in disillusionment and disappointment as Stalin’s crimes became public.

The Many Worlds of American Communism

The Many Worlds of American Communism PDF Author: Joshua Morris
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793631964
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 533

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Book Description
This book explores the multifaceted dimensions that make up the American communist movement from its early years in the 1920s to its peak in the years leading up to World War II. The author argues that in order to effectively understand a social movement, it is necessary to take an approach that differentiates between the political-, social-, and labor-oriented motivations taken by the movement's participants. By exploring the political, community, and labor dimensions of American communism, the author helps convey the complex nature of social movements and the various ways they attempted to create agency in their society.

American Communism

American Communism PDF Author: James Oneal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Communism
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description


The Soviet World of American Communism

The Soviet World of American Communism PDF Author: Harvey Klehr
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300138008
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
The Secret World of American Communism (1995), filled with revelations about Communist party covert operations in the United States, created an international sensation. Now the American authors of that book, along with Soviet archivist Kyrill M. Anderson, offer a second volume of profound social, political, and historical importance. Based on documents newly available from Russian archives, The Soviet World of American Communism conclusively demonstrates the continuous and intimate ties between the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) and Moscow. In a meticulous investigation of the personal, organizational, and financial links between the CPUSA and Soviet Communists, the authors find that Moscow maintained extensive control of the CPUSA, even of the American rank and file. The widely accepted view that the CPUSA was essentially an idealistic organization devoted to the pursuit of social justice must be radically revised, say the authors. Although individuals within the organization may not have been aware of Moscow’s influence, the leaders of the organization most definitely were. The authors explain and annotate ninety-five documents, reproduced here in their entirety or in large part, and they quote from hundreds of others to reveal the actual workings of the American Communist party. They show that: • the USSR covertly provided a large part of the CPUSA budget from the early 1920s to the end of the 1980s; • Moscow issued orders, which the CPUSA obeyed, on issues ranging from what political decisions the American party should make to who should serve in the party leadership; • the CPUSA endorsed Stalin’s purges and the persecution of Americans living in Russia.