EUGENE DEBS: Rebel, Labor Leader & Prophet

by David F. Selvin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 25, 1966

'Now, Governor, I know something about railroads and you may, with my consent, take the B line and go to hell.' And he walked out."" It was one of his finest moments as a union leader and the man who, became the famous Prisoner 9653 during WWI never looked back. The Pullman Strike and Debs incarceration as a seditionist because of his pronouncements against war are the high points of this very well written biography. The Pullman Strike is the stuff that ballads get made from and as often as it is told it never loses its dramatic impact. Mr. Selvin brings a storyteller's gift to the events leading up to the strike and never loses track of Debs or the current of American thought during the strike and never loses track of Debs or the current of American thought during the strike itself, which he has presented to younger readers vividly and fairly. Since Debs was always a league ahead of contemporary opinion, his biographers are faced showing how and why he differed with the mainstream of his own times. This is extremely difficult to do when so emotional an issue as socialism is involved, but it has been accomplished here in a way that brings the man to life and his ideas into perspective. A readable and reliable biography with an annotated short list of books recommended for further reading.

Pub Date: April 25, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION