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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Destined to Fail?
Excited about using my new Kindle DX, I downloaded an old book that I was assigned to read when I was a freshman in college, years ago: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

It's a very interesting book.It has a very Socialist viewpoint.In fact, Upton Sinclair, who was quite a socialist, wrote the book as an expose of capitalism, an endorsement of unions, and a call to workers to unite.It was very interesting reading until the last few chapters, where in my opinion it turned into a Socialistic propaganda pamphlet--totally out of context with the entire story.I thought the last chapters ruined the book.However, in its day it was a big seller and won Sinclair much attention.So be it for 1906--different times.

In any case, his descriptions of the stockyards and meat packing houses of Chicago were truly graphic and very memorable. Everyone should read it to gain an understanding of life during the adolecence of the industrial revolution--just stop at Chapter 30.However, I dare say, it encourages me to become a vegetarian.I understand the book was the motivation for the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which eventually led to the Food and Drug Administration.This is significant because, the motivation of Sinclair was to move the workers to political action.As such it failed to accomplish its charge.However, it did cause Americans to question the quality of its food supply and create safeguards against tainted food.Interestingly, Sinclair is attributed with a quote, which has him saying, "I intended to shoot the public in the heart with my message; instead I hit them in the stomach"--amusing, isn't it?

It is interesting that Sinclair lays the blame of the ills of society in the lap of the rich capitalists.There are abuses to be sure, but there is very little said in The Jungle about individual responsibility.Although, the main character, Jurgis, holds himself responsible for protecting and nurturing his loved ones, the tone of the book implies that fate is totally in control of his ruined destiny.Whereas, there are numerous occasions in the story where a right decision on the part of Jurgis could have changed everyone's fortunes.Unfortunately, the story line creates a scenario where Jurgis appears destined to fail, through no real fault of his own.There is no support to the idea people are not predestined to fail.Failure, in most cases is self-imposed, the result of a series of very poor decisions.And the simple truth is poor decisions are not exclusive to the very poor alone.We all make poor decisions.The person who succeeds is the one who learns from those poor decisions.Jurgis, certainly did not.

Great scope of experiences in the story
There are a wide variety of experiences that the 'hero' of the story has.Almost like Forrest Gump but depressing.Nothing good ever seems to happen to Jurgis and his family but the book is still definitely worth the read.Sinclair's vivid descriptions of the slaughterhouses and the conditions that were endured by Jurgis are amazing.

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class. Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books. The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

The Jungle
I loved this book.I found it extremely entertaining and though very sadI enjoyed reading it. ... Read more

Product Description
In "The Moneychanger," Upton Sinclair tells the fictionalized story of the Wall Street panic of 1907. The panic, according to Sinclair, was orchestrated by several very powerful capitalists in order to dethrone a rival trust company. First published in 1908, "The Moneychangers" is the story of a small band of Wall Street players who plot to outmaneuver their rivals via financial schemes that sound all too familiar in today's chaotic economic environment: shell companies and creative accounting lure unwitting investors to prop up secretly bankrupt corporations, prompting a stock market crash, a bank run, and a dramatic rise in unemployment.The story is told through the eyes of Allan Montague -- a successful lawyer living in New York. Through the course of the story he becomes introduced to several power players -- many of whom have millions riding in the stock market. These players use fronts and shill companies whose only purpose is to sell things -- they do not make anything. This gets the public and the government to invest in their companies which ultimately go bankrupt. Upton Sinclair won a Pulitzer Prize for his notorious 1906 novel "The Jungle," a fictionalized account of the barbaric conditions of the men and women who worked in Chicago's meatpacking industry. The details exposed in "The Moneychangers" are just as horrific as those in "The Jungle." As with "The Jungle," "The Money-changers" is based on real events and is startlingly relevant today, as the very crimes Sinclair strove to highlight plague society once again. ... Read more

Product Description
Here, reprinted for the first time since its original publication, is muckraking journalist Upton Sinclair's lively, caustic account of the 1934 election campaign that turned California upside down and almost won him the governor's mansion.
Using his "End Poverty in California" movement (more commonly called EPIC) as a springboard, Sinclair ran for governor as a Democrat, equipped with a bold plan to end the Depression in California by taking over idle land and factories and turning them into cooperative ventures for the unemployed. To his surprise, thousands rallied to the idea, converting what he had assumed would be another of his utopian schemes into a mass political movement of extraordinary dimensions. With a loosely knit organization of hundreds of local EPIC clubs, Sinclair overwhelmed the moderate Democratic opposition to capture the primary election. When it came to the general election, however, his opposition employed highly effective campaign tactics: overwhelming media hostility, vicious red-baiting and voter intimidation, high-priced dirty tricks. The result was a resounding defeat in November.
I, Candidate tells the story of Sinclair's campaign while also capturing the turbulent political mood of the 1930s. Employing his trademark muckraking style, Sinclair exposes the conspiracies of power that ensured big-money control over the media and other powerful institutions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Price and Fast Shipping!!
I purchased the book at a great price and it arrived within a few days!

Surprising and Enjoyable
This excellant account of the race for governor in California offers unique insight into the tactics and motivations of the canidates and their supporters with a wry but rarely bitter pen. Written by Sinclair almost imediately after the conclusion of the race, this journal of sorts shedsfirst hand light on the California of 1934. A California that disturbinglyresembles the America of today. The connection I made with the author'sdeepest values allows me to accept Upton Sinclair as worthy of myemulation. Read this. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Sinclair classic
Samuel the Seeker is a tongue in cheek version of a Horatio Alger book.Samuel starts off life as a naive farmer's boy who must leave home to find work in New York.Unfortunately, he never makes it to the big city and is waylaid in a medium-sized town that has problems of their own.He finds that employment is tough to find and that the odds are stacked against him.

Samuel's adventures mirror those of an Alger book.He finds employment by saving the life of a rich person.He is happy working there until he realizes the debauchery his employer practices.This goes against Samuel's Christian upbringing and again he hits the street in search of work.Ultimately, Samuel learns that the world isn't a friendly place.The church only offers minimal succor and fails to punish and correct the wealthy members who cause the poor misery.

While the events were a bit hokey like that of a rags to riches Alger story, Sinclair's identifying of many social ills are crystal clear.Fans of Sinclair will enjoy this book as well as those who are interested in social injustices and socialism. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
In this 1907 novel about the extravagant life of New York City's high society, the author of The Jungle, presents a richly detailed portrait of the wealthy elite of The Metropolis. Allan Montague, a lawyer of thirty, moves to New York City from Mississippi, along with his mother and cousin Alice, to join his younger brother Oliver, who had taken up residence there several years before. The newcomers soon discover that Oliver has become a highly networked member of a fast-paced social circuit comprising some of the most powerful members of the business class. Oliver wastes no time in introducing Allan and Alice into this exclusive group in the hope that they will all prosper through their connections.

Sinclair devotes much of the novel to depictions of the profligate and jaded party life of the very rich, who spend vast sums of money on entertainment and new toys to relieve their boredom. Expensive cars (still a novelty at this time), lavishly furnished limousines and private trains, sumptuous dinners attended by liveried servants, tailor-made clothing costing thousands of dollars are described with meticulous attention to the enormous cost of it all. Sinclair also spares no detail in describing the rampant alcoholism, marital affairs, malicious gossip, backstabbing, and shallow values of this set.

When Allan agrees to represent a wealthy client in a suit against powerful insurance interests, he becomes caught in a web of influence and secret dealings that threaten his recently established social standing and the wellbeing of his whole family.

This early 20th-century version of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with a cynical edge and a socialist reformer's perspective provides a fascinating glimpse into the elite social life of the very wealthy of New York before the Great Depression. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in trade paper, this "absorbing tale" (Newsweek) brings to life one of America's most influential and outrageous political contests--the 1934 bid for governor of California made by muckraking author and socialist Upton Sinclair. Photos. Index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

First Blitz of the Soundbite Era
Greg Mitchell provides an absorbing account of one of America's most fascinating gubernatorial campaigns, the titantic 1934 California struggle between famed novelist and muckraker Upton Sinclair, who exposed the Chicago meatpacking business in his epic work, "The Jungle," and Lieutenant Governor Frank Merriam, hand-picked candidate of the powerful monied interests who kept their candidate carefully under wraps in a manner reminiscent of the later candidaces of Californian Ronald Reagan and Texan George Bush the Younger.

The race is fascinating in a current context for being the first instance where the ferocious impact of corporate public relations spin control dominated.A smear was launched against Sinclair based on his socialist roots.What was termed socialist in those days, as evidenced later by perennial Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas, was a strong desire for regulation, better working conditions, and greater security for the citizenry in the retirement and medical care areas.While Sinclair, due to his Socialist background and controversy over his End Poverty in California program, failed to receive the endorsement as Democratic Party nominee from an apprehensive Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he obtained financial assistance from wealthy Los Angeles socialist property magnate Gaylord Wilshire and many grassroots volunteers seeking security and justice during the ravages of the Great Depression.

Louis B. Mayer, William Randolph Hearst and other powerful monied interests fought hard to prevent Sinclair from winning, or having his platform properly debated.Mayer had MGM make and release so-called documentaries which were shown in his studio's movie houses revealing scores of impoverished people coming to California to get in on Sinclair's largesse and take advantage of his promise to end poverty in the state.One controversial segment showed a man with a thick Russian accent exclaiming soothly, "Well, Sinclair's ideas worked in Russia.I don't see why they won't work here."

These were blatant propaganda films purported to reveal spontaneous behavior which were actually rehearsed efforts with actors performing their intended roles.They worked all the same.The fact that Sinclair's socialism was rooted in humanism and not Marxism was deliberately overlooked as distortion and fearmongering prevailed.

Despite these efforts, and being hopelessly outspent, Sinclair ran a spirited campaign based on ideas and ran a strong if unsuccessful race.After it was all over he took it all philosophically, exclaiming that, "If I'd been elected governor I wouldn't be able to continue sleeping with my bedroom window open."

One-sided but still a fascinating read for the open minded
In 1934, veteran muckraker and socialist Upton Sinclair managed to win the Democratic nomination to run for Governor of California.Running on a blatantly Marxist platform, Sinclair through a scare into the rich and powerful of America who, in the view of this book's author, united together to unfairly slander Sinclair and rob him of victory.Campaign of the Century provides a heavily detailed, anecdote-filled accounts of the campaign and manages to weave in a fascinating social history featuring the most revered figures of recent American history.Over the course of the campaign we get fascinating portraits of Will Rogers, Aimee Semple MacPhearson, Louis B. Mayer, and Franklin D. Roosevelt amongst others.

The book's main flaw is the idealization of Sinclair.While Marshall is honest enough to admit that the man could be a flake, his platform is never really examined in any great detail.Nor does Marshall give any real evidence as to why Sinclair would have been a better governor than his opponent or even why he seems so convinced Sinclair would have won if not for the convenient boogeyman of Big Business.Instead, Marshall seems to simply assume that all readers will naturally agree that Sinclair was an angel and anyone opposed to him was the devil.

This being said, this is still a wonderful social and political history of the not-so-distant past.It should definitely be read by anyone who considers himself to be a political junkie or is just interested in history.Just remember to keep an open mind and not always automatically believe everything you read.

biased, long, entertaining account of a fascinating story
The author's obvious sympathy for Sinclair interferes with his telling of the monumental 1934 governor's race in California.Given the depths of the country's turmoil in 1934, it is doubtful is so wacky a candidate (although a brilliant and sincere one) ever was taken so seriously for such a major office.

The book is not so much about the campaign for Governor as it is about the negative campaign run against him -- 90% of the book focuses on people who opposed Sinclair and their tactics.In addition to employers bullying their workers to kick back contributions to the anti-Sinclair effort and scurrilous attempts to intimidate Sinclair supporters from turning out to vote, the author lavishes attention on the fact that mailings were sent out against Sinclair in huge quantities; that newspapers and other foes used his long record of incendiary quotes, outside of the mainstream by virtually any standard, against him.One presumes the author believes we'll be shocked that the Merriam campaign is campaigning.

Sinclair's opponent, the incumbent Governor Merriam, is portrayed as an imbecile, a non-entity who the author labels early on as "reactionary" (and re-labels him with the derogitory term dozens and dozens of times, as though it were informative rather than namecalling.)Merriam's support of the Townsend Plan and other "progressive" measures is dismissed out-of-hand as laughably and obviously insincere -- so insincere the author feels no need to burden himself with supporting his accusations.While it may be news to the author, it's a widely accepted historical fact that after Merriam trounced Sinclair, he endured the scorn of anti-New Dealers for pushing for the progressive policies he campaigned on, a fact which compromised his re-election effort in 1938.

Just as can be expected of a book that focuses so exclusively on the negative side one campaign ran against the other, that campaign comes across as morally flawed while the other is virtuous.The author acknowledges Sinclair's demagogery (he claims "208" New York mobsters have been sent by capitalists to undo his campaign, just as Joe McCarthy said, "I hold in my hand a list of 205 communists...") shameless pandering (claiming belief in God in the closing weeks in the face of decades of loud, principled agnosticism) and smear campaigning of his own (Sinclair's orgainization runs an "expose" on Merriam's KKK background, a complete falsehood) yet these instances cover several sentences while the anti-Sinclair excesses are covered in several hundred pages.

Nonetheless, this was a largely enjoyable read, despite being somewhat tedious in detail at times.The story is riveting, it is eloquently (although not objectively) told, and performs it's greatest service in reminding fat, happy modern day America where prosperity is considered a fact of life that this country was a far different place not so long ago.

Flawless, amazing writing!!! BUY THIS BOOK!!
This book is a (literally) day by day account of the 1934 campaign forCalifornia governor. Amazingly, Mitchell's political oreientation iscompletely invisible (and I had my radar on)! The result is a wonderfullyexciting, novel-like political history (divided into nuggets for those ofus with short attention spans). Perhaps Sinclair is presented as too muchof an idealist, but the alternative may have made the tone more of apolemic. I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you like politics. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Socialist Party grunt flees war-time U.S. for Lenin's Russia
Jimmie Higgins is the Forrest Gump of the "parlor pink" socialist propaganda put out by Upton Sinclair at the turn of the century.A down-on-his-luck, illiterate working stiff who gets caught up in theidealism of the socialist tide that had begun to well up in Europe and theUnited States in the early 1900s, Jimmie Higgins quickly gets caught up ina whirlwind of events that serve as a morality play for readers of theperiod.Jimmie meets Eugene Debbs, thinly disguised here as "TheCandidate", the perennial plugger of the movement in America. He getscaught up in the party machinery, is hired by German "socialists"to blow up an ammunitions work only to find out that the men actuallyrepresented the Kaiser, joins the army to fight European imperialism, andfinally ends up in Archangel in the Siberian Arctic to be introduced toBolsheviks during the little known U.S. attempt to restore the czarists topower.The book is a thinly veiled work of propaganda and Upton Sinclairwould never apologize for this.The novel was turned into a movie by theSoviets and was squashed by overwhelming anti-socialist sentiment here. For Upton Sinclair fanatics only.My copy was obtained from the Universityof Kentucky Press and has been out of print since the 1960s.Good luck infinding it. ... Read more

Product Description
C&C Web Press Brings you Upton Sinclair's classic novel The Jungle. Selection includes an active table of contents and original cover art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class.Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books.The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class.Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books.The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions).

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions). ... Read more

Product Description
Now and then it occurs to one to reflect upon what slender threads of accident depend the most important circumstances of his life; to look back and shudderrealizing how close to the edge of nothingness his being has come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Sinclair's best but a good antithetical follow-up to Jimmie Higgins
I admit that I'm still not done reading "100% The Story of a Patriot" but I've read enough to offer a few words of input on its value in the Sinclair oeuvre. This book is considered by critics to be the companion novel to Jimmie Higgins (1919) and acts like an antithetical drama to Higgins's proletarian Bildungsroman style (see Karsten Piep). The protagonist in this story is a luckless opportunist in the middle of the Red Scare who becomes embroiled in a plot by the D.A. to infiltrate and spy on an enclave of Socialists who have been wrongfully connected with a domestic bombing. In my opinion, it helps if you're already sympathetic to Sinclair's politics to appreciate or even, dare I say, be 'moved' by "100%." ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Literary; ... Read more

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Praise for UPTON SINCLAIR and the other American Century

"I look forward to all of Kevin Mattson's works of history and I've notbeen disappointed yet. Upton Sinclair is a thoughtful, well-researched, and extremely eloquently told excavation of the history of theAmerican left and, indeed, the American nation, as well as a testamentto the power of one man to influence his times. Well done."
—Eric Alterman, author of When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences

"A splendid read. It reminds you that real heroes once dwelt among us. Mattson not only captures Sinclair's character, but the world he inhabited, with deft strokes whose energy and passion easily match his subject's."
—Richard Parker, author of John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics

"From the meat-packing houses of Chicago to the automobile factories of Detroit to the voting booths of California, Upton Sinclair cut a wide swath as a muckraking writer who exposed the injustices rendered by American industrial capitalism. Now Kevin Mattson presents a much-needed exploration of this complex crusader. This is a thoughtful, provocative, and gripping account of an important figure who appeared equal parts intellectual, propagandist, and political combatant as he struggled to illuminate the 'other American century' inhabited by the poor and powerless."
—Steven Watts, author of The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

First Blitz of the Soundbite Era
Greg Mitchell provides an absorbing account of one of America's most fascinating gubernatorial campaigns, the titantic 1934 California struggle between famed novelist and muckraker Upton Sinclair, who exposed the Chicago meatpacking business in his epic work, "The Jungle," and Lieutenant Governor Frank Merriam, hand-picked candidate of the powerful monied interests who kept their candidate carefully under wraps in a manner reminiscent of the later candidaces of Californian Ronald Reagan and Texan George Bush the Younger.

The race is fascinating in a current context for being the first instance where the ferocious impact of corporate public relations spin control dominated.A smear was launched against Sinclair based on his socialist roots.What was termed socialist in those days, as evidenced later by perennial Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas, was a strong desire for regulation, better working conditions, and greater security for the citizenry in the retirement and medical care areas.While Sinclair, due to his Socialist background and controversy over his End Poverty in California program, failed to receive the endorsement as Democratic Party nominee from an apprehensive Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he obtained financial assistance from wealthy Los Angeles socialist property magnate Gaylord Wilshire and many grassroots volunteers seeking security and justice during the ravages of the Great Depression.

Louis B. Mayer, William Randolph Hearst and other powerful monied interests fought hard to prevent Sinclair from winning, or having his platform properly debated.Mayer had MGM make and release so-called documentaries which were shown in his studio's movie houses revealing scores of impoverished people coming to California to get in on Sinclair's largesse and take advantage of his promise to end poverty in the state.One controversial segment showed a man with a thick Russian accent exclaiming soothly, "Well, Sinclair's ideas worked in Russia.I don't see why they won't work here."

These were blatant propaganda films purported to reveal spontaneous behavior which were actually rehearsed efforts with actors performing their intended roles.They worked all the same.The fact that Sinclair's socialism was rooted in humanism and not Marxism was deliberately overlooked as distortion and fearmongering prevailed.

Despite these efforts, and being hopelessly outspent, Sinclair ran a spirited campaign based on ideas and ran a strong if unsuccessful race.After it was all over he took it all philosophically, exclaiming that, "If I'd been elected governor I wouldn't be able to continue sleeping with my bedroom window open."

One-sided but still a fascinating read for the open minded
In 1934, veteran muckraker and socialist Upton Sinclair managed to win the Democratic nomination to run for Governor of California.Running on a blatantly Marxist platform, Sinclair through a scare into the rich and powerful of America who, in the view of this book's author, united together to unfairly slander Sinclair and rob him of victory.Campaign of the Century provides a heavily detailed, anecdote-filled accounts of the campaign and manages to weave in a fascinating social history featuring the most revered figures of recent American history.Over the course of the campaign we get fascinating portraits of Will Rogers, Aimee Semple MacPhearson, Louis B. Mayer, and Franklin D. Roosevelt amongst others.

The book's main flaw is the idealization of Sinclair.While Marshall is honest enough to admit that the man could be a flake, his platform is never really examined in any great detail.Nor does Marshall give any real evidence as to why Sinclair would have been a better governor than his opponent or even why he seems so convinced Sinclair would have won if not for the convenient boogeyman of Big Business.Instead, Marshall seems to simply assume that all readers will naturally agree that Sinclair was an angel and anyone opposed to him was the devil.

This being said, this is still a wonderful social and political history of the not-so-distant past.It should definitely be read by anyone who considers himself to be a political junkie or is just interested in history.Just remember to keep an open mind and not always automatically believe everything you read.

biased, long, entertaining account of a fascinating story
The author's obvious sympathy for Sinclair interferes with his telling of the monumental 1934 governor's race in California.Given the depths of the country's turmoil in 1934, it is doubtful is so wacky a candidate (although a brilliant and sincere one) ever was taken so seriously for such a major office.

The book is not so much about the campaign for Governor as it is about the negative campaign run against him -- 90% of the book focuses on people who opposed Sinclair and their tactics.In addition to employers bullying their workers to kick back contributions to the anti-Sinclair effort and scurrilous attempts to intimidate Sinclair supporters from turning out to vote, the author lavishes attention on the fact that mailings were sent out against Sinclair in huge quantities; that newspapers and other foes used his long record of incendiary quotes, outside of the mainstream by virtually any standard, against him.One presumes the author believes we'll be shocked that the Merriam campaign is campaigning.

Sinclair's opponent, the incumbent Governor Merriam, is portrayed as an imbecile, a non-entity who the author labels early on as "reactionary" (and re-labels him with the derogitory term dozens and dozens of times, as though it were informative rather than namecalling.)Merriam's support of the Townsend Plan and other "progressive" measures is dismissed out-of-hand as laughably and obviously insincere -- so insincere the author feels no need to burden himself with supporting his accusations.While it may be news to the author, it's a widely accepted historical fact that after Merriam trounced Sinclair, he endured the scorn of anti-New Dealers for pushing for the progressive policies he campaigned on, a fact which compromised his re-election effort in 1938.

Just as can be expected of a book that focuses so exclusively on the negative side one campaign ran against the other, that campaign comes across as morally flawed while the other is virtuous.The author acknowledges Sinclair's demagogery (he claims "208" New York mobsters have been sent by capitalists to undo his campaign, just as Joe McCarthy said, "I hold in my hand a list of 205 communists...") shameless pandering (claiming belief in God in the closing weeks in the face of decades of loud, principled agnosticism) and smear campaigning of his own (Sinclair's orgainization runs an "expose" on Merriam's KKK background, a complete falsehood) yet these instances cover several sentences while the anti-Sinclair excesses are covered in several hundred pages.

Nonetheless, this was a largely enjoyable read, despite being somewhat tedious in detail at times.The story is riveting, it is eloquently (although not objectively) told, and performs it's greatest service in reminding fat, happy modern day America where prosperity is considered a fact of life that this country was a far different place not so long ago.

Flawless, amazing writing!!! BUY THIS BOOK!!
This book is a (literally) day by day account of the 1934 campaign forCalifornia governor. Amazingly, Mitchell's political oreientation iscompletely invisible (and I had my radar on)! The result is a wonderfullyexciting, novel-like political history (divided into nuggets for those ofus with short attention spans). Perhaps Sinclair is presented as too muchof an idealist, but the alternative may have made the tone more of apolemic. I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you like politics. ... Read more

Product Description
In this powerful book we enter the world of  Jurgis Rudkus, a young Lithuanian immigrant who arrives  in America fired with dreams of wealth, freedom,  and opportunity. And we discover, with him, the  astonishing truth about "packingtown," the  busy, flourishing, filthy Chicago stockyards, where  new world visions perish in a jungle of human  suffering. Upton Sinclair, master of the  "muckraking" novel, here explores the workingman's  lot at the turn of the century: the backbreaking  labor, the injustices of "wage-slavery,"  the bewildering chaos of urban life. The  Jungle, a story so shocking that it  launched a government investigation, recreates this  startling chapter if our history in unflinching  detail. Always a vigorous champion on political reform,  Sinclair is also a gripping storyteller, and his  1906 novel stands as one of the most important --  and moving -- works in the literature of social  change.


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class.Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books.The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions). ... Read more

Product Description
King Midas: a Romance. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great start, but let me down
I was intrigued by the title, author, and, frankly, the free download and the prospect of making a discovery. The first half of the book really engaged me so much that I was sure that I wanted my wife to read it immediately after I finished. King Midas is a turn of the 20th century upper-class period piece a la James and Wharton with very sympathetic characters, highly absorbing plot-situations and a lovely lyrical style with many classical music and Romantic German poetic allusions. I initially felt that this was a highly readable and terrific undiscovered prize.
Unfortunately at about the halfway point, Sinclair, for me, seems to lose inspiration and control as his main character becomes preachy and ponderous at truly undue length on his theories of religion and love and duty - frankly, after a while, tedious.The denouement becomes overheated, melodramatic and a little desperate; the final pages something of a disappointing copout.However, the first half absolutely engaged me for which I certainly recommend your, perhaps, giving King Midas a go. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics eBook contains 15 novels by noted American Socialist Upton Sinclair, including his famous critique of meatpacking,'The Jungle.'Includes an active table of contents.

Contents:

A Prisoner of Morro
King Midas
The Journal of Arthur Stirling
The Jungle
The Metropolis
The Moneychangers
Samuel the Seeker
Love’s Pilgrimage
Damaged Goods
Sylvia’s Marriage
King Coal
The Profits of Religion
Jimmie Higgins
100%: The Story of a Patriot
They Call Me Carpenter

... Read more

Product Description
Upton Sinclair took a gamble publishing this book. A lifelong Socialist who ran for high office several times, a muckraking author who had exposed the abuses of capitalism, was dabbling with what was seen as the occult. The impetus for this was his dear wife, Mary Craig Sinclair, known as 'Craig,' who had been aware all her life that she could sense things that had not yet happened, or which she had no rational access to. In the late 1920s, this came to light when Craig had an odd feeling that their friend Jack London was in mental turmoil, just prior to London's suicide. The Sinclairs started to investigate how deep this particular rabbit hole went...

The core of this book is a series of doodles which Upton and others made outside Craig's presence, which she was able to duplicate, apparently telepathically or through clairvoyance. Sinclair claims that Craig had over a 75% success rate over 290 tests, including 25% matches, and 50% partial matches. This success rate is obviously a lot higher than probability, considering that the potential set of drawings is a lot larger than, say, a deck of cards.

Sinclair's top reputation as a 'speaker of truth to power' was actually a compelling reason to take this book seriously. The response to Mental Radio was very positive, impressing academics in the field of psychology and other scientists, including Albert Einstein, who wrote the introduction to the German edition. William McDougal, Chair of the Psychology Department at Duke University, who wrote the introduction for this edition, conducted his own experiments with Craig. McDougal and J.B. Rhine later went on to found the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke, which conducted the first academic investigations of ESP. Walter Franklin Price, founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research, asked the Sinclairs if he could analyze their res ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Thought it would be an interesting classic
Not much more than a diary of Mr. Sinclair's wifes psychic abilities- over and over and over again...

Mental Radio - A landmark in Telepathy
Opening the book you cannot fail to be impressed by the name and words of Albert Einstein who wrote the preface.

Prior to reading this book, Pulitzer prize winner Upton Sinclair was unknown to me, further emphasising my ignorance of early twentieth century literary and political movements.
This is not a scientific monologue, but is rather an almost homely account of amateurs making very careful exploration of telepathic and clairvoyant ability - with very impressive results.
Sinclair uses his significant literary skills to make this book an interesting description of his wife's experimentation with her telepathic abilities.

Mary Craig Sinclair and her husband Upton Sinclair used a basic protocol requiring that the two sat in separate rooms, When Upton was ready to start creating a target line drawing he would call "all right". When his wife had finished her drawings of what she perceived, she would call "All right". Usually the result was a pair of drawings, the target, and the attempted reproduction using telepathy. The attempt was then judged in its likeness to the target. What resulted where 290 trials, consisting of 65 (23%) successes, 155 (53%) partial successes and 70 (24%) failures.

The book contains 16 chapters describing the the motivation from which the experiment arose, and giving a number of examples of successes, partial successes, and other interesting anomalies. A summary of thereceptive technique is given, with some closing comments. Originally published in 1930 this work is of such historical significance that it has recently (2001) been re-published as a part of Hampton Roads series Classics in Conciousness, edited by Russell Targ. This edition has an addendum containing a rather dry analysis of the raw experiment documentation by Dr Walter Franklin Prince of the Boston Society for Psychic Research.

Having previously been generally ignorant of psychical research prior to the 1960's,I see in the Sinclair experiments valid descriptions of how we experience the Psi capability, and the seeds of the remote viewing protocol. I also understand they were a primary motivation for the establishment of the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory, a predecessor of the Rhine Research Centre.

As a whole the book has the following values:
1) It stands in independent of other psychical research as strong evidence for telepathic and clairvoyant functioning.
2) It documents the technique used by Mary Craig Sinclair in in her telepathic functioning.
3) it records a number of phenomena familiar with Remote Viewers and others using such skills.
a) The ability is not 100% reliable
b) Sometimes there is a remarkable contact with the target
c) Sometimes only conceptual elements of the target shape are identified
d) Some targets (in her case, targets with smoke) are perceived better than others
e) Often picks up the shape (form) rather than the function (being able to correctly name the target).
e) Target displacement (anticipation of future targets).
f) Sometimes picked up related mental thoughts of the targeter.
g) Attraction to bigger issues (eg health).
h) Works equally well from the next room or 40 miles away.
i) Variability - Sometimes you get a great run, sometimes you to get a run of bad sessions.

Although I yearned for a more mathematical treatment of the results (being permanently twisted from majoring in maths), I came away with a deeper understanding of Psi functioning and its history. A worthwhile read, particularly for those interested in understanding Telepathic ability.

Stepping Out On A Limb For The Sake Of Truth
Upton Sinclair took a considerable gamble by writing this book and had to withstand a good deal of criticism as a consequence of it.It was obvious, though, that he felt this was a story that needed to be told, and we should be glad he went through with his hunch.

The book is essentially a description of a large number of experiments done in the areas of mental telepathy and remote reviewing, broken down into sets or groups of sessions.The author tends to bend over backwards to convince the public of the sincere intentions of all involved in these tests - mostly his wife, himself, his secretary, brother-in-law and several friends and associates.

The information is presented in a very frank and accessible manner, without a lot of protocol and formality, because the tests were being carried out by non-scientists who were just trying to be as diligent as possible.This in turn makes for easy reading by the layman.

Chapter 21 is a verbatim account by Sinclair's wife (whom he calls by her middle name, Craig).It is both a handbook of her methodologies and a fascinating insight into the way she theorizes the workings of the mind.This is very useful information for anyone wanting a "how to" for remote viewing or telepathic research and is a very simple sequence of instructions.Of course a great deal of practice would be necessary to achieve the necessary level of concentration required.But at least one can have a distinct roadmap to follow as opposed to a lot of vague references.

Mary Craig Sinclairs Story of Her Amazing Clairvoyance!!!
Author Upton Sinclair is ledgend. What is morecomplementary to the great authors saga is his soul mate and life's companion, wife Mary. A certain risk in Sinclair's time was the issue of "the occult". Evenpolite discussion or any association to the subject labeled it's members asoutsiders or worse. So is the bravery and love that Upton and Mary Sinclairbring to the reader in enlightenment and discovery. That the"subject" of telepathy and precognitive ability is basedintimatly between man and wife, it unfolds in a love story, bringing uscloser to the heart and our minds deepest of mystery's. "MentalRadio" is a book of wonderment and love. The reader takes a glimpseinto a couples quest to bring understanding to our lives and theirdiscoverys. The book is justly prefaced by none other than Albert Einstien,May 23, 1930. ... Read more

Product Description
This dramatic expose of the Chicago meat-packing industry prompted an investigation by Theodore Roosevelt which culminated in the pure-food legislation of 1906. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Jungle
The book "The Jungle" was great but having cds that read the book to you is amazing.I recommend this book cds to everyone.

One of my favorites
I first read this book about 8 years ago in a High School history class.Since then I have read it twice and I did a college thesis on it; it is one of my favorite books.The first time I read the hardcover book; the next two times I listened to the unabridged audiobook and enjoyed it so much better.

At Least Charles Dickens Could Write
Cicero once wrote, 'It is an outrageous abuse both of time and literature for a man to commit his thoughts to writing without having the ability either to arrange them or manifest them, or attract readers by some charm of style."

This book is a naturalistic novel with poor prose. Melodramatic and sensationalistic. It is functionally aligned to what was characterized as 'dime-novels' during the era in which it was written. The prose is so heinous it made me think the writer Mr. Sinclair must have been mentally exiguous. I had difficulty affirming in my own mind as I read this book that it was actually written by an adult, and not a fourteen-year-old child; notwithstanding a supposed professional novelist at that. Charles Dickens worked in a garment factory when he was a teenager as well as had a far less well-off beginning to life than that of Mr. Sinclair, yet Mr. Dickens could express with the most refined art and effort such an ease of pen dazzling the reader in every line. Dickens had indubitably an eye for detail and perfection that Sinclair's intellectual apathy could never aspire to grasp.

For a more eminent literary personification of the naturalistic novel genre, I would suggest reading Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The naturalistic novel was always a phantasm of reality, but there were well-written ones and poorly written ones; this one by Upton Sinclair is a literary peril to say the least.

This book is exceptional only its ridiculousness. The characters are passive, dull, cliché, and often utterly puerile in their own conceptualization of their circumstances (this reflects upon the limited thought process of the writer).

In respect to the vulgarity discussed by Sinclair regarding the food industry of this era it should be noted the industry had already been exposed by various NON-fiction writers of the period (preceding Sinclair), and much (the emphasis being much, not all) of the industry had consequently been reformed apropos to the processing of food by the time this book was published. Essentially the government mandated regulatory reforms that were instituted the following year as a result of the popularity of this book were unnecessary, most significantly postulated on aberrational phenomena, and were superficial in remonstrance (oh but they made the public feel good inside). Conversely had Sinclair decided to be objective in his critique of the meatpacking industry in contrast to producing 'muckracking' so-called journalism derived out of his own subjective views in support of socialist ideology he would have discovered the previously mentioned actuality, but since this is a work of fiction he could write anything he wished, and he did. Why Sinclair went down the road of sensationalism in this novel may be attributable to the failures of his first four books. However, because he decided to go down that road he cannot be taken seriously as a scholar in any regard.

It should be noted that Sinclair was not merely a metaphorical socialist, he was a literal one (he was an unsuccessful Socialist Party candidate in the U.S.). In historical context Sinclair's political persuasion was during an era when the progressive political faction was gaining in popularity in America, so as a socialist ideologue he [Sinclair] was even further to the left politically than the progressives (he could be paralleled with a Michael Moore type in the present-era).

This book is a literary work of fiction, and should not be taken earnestly as a non-fictional scholarly critique. With that noted it also falls short in regard to literary style, and because the characters are passively portrayed by Sinclair in contrast to being actively portrayed it is difficult for the reader to form any authentic connection with them (they exist more as abstractions). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Big project
Upton Sinclair wrote 11 novels, each close to 750 pages long, in the 1940's. The plot follows an extremely appealing youngster, Lanny Budd, who we meet when he is 14 yrs. old in 1914. Sinclair makes the run up to WWI vivid in this book and continues in each of the following books to explain and make clear our history in this period. I have learned so much, but they are not difficult books, they are very easy reading. World's End is the first book, and one of the best.

Worls's End, Upton Sinclair
This book is the first of a series of historical novels.The series traces the history of a fictional Lanny Budd, bastard son of a wealthy munitions dealer, Robby Budd, and his exquisitly beautiful mistress, Beauty Budd.In this volume, Lanny is a precocious teen- zger, who, because of his excellent command of foreign languages, accompanies his father to Versailles at the close of World War I as an interpreter.The book calls atention to the harsh attitudes of the Allied leaders towards the defeated German people, and forshadows the miseries they caused in post-war Germany which were to lay the groundwork for the rise of Hitler. Later novels in this series follow Lanny, as a member of the
French Undrground, through the Second World War and as a special agent of Franklin Roosevelt in the aftermath of that war.

As a novel, it is superb, as a lesson in 20th Century Europeant History, it surpasses most high school level school textbooks

Because of my error in placing my order, the dealer was occasioned much trouble in getting it to me.He must be commended for having made this effort.

Looking for a copy?
I have a 1960 paperback.E-mail me if you'd be interested in it. ... Read more