THE UNFOLDING DRAMA: Studies in U.S. History

by Herbert Aptheker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 1979

Aptheker, the dean of American Communist historians, has championed the history of the ""other"" America for four decades; the history of blacks, of working-class organizations, of those whose past was ignored by the historical establishment. Several of these essays--all previously published, mostly in small CP journals--are representative of his most important contributions. Three of them, grouped under the heading ""Prelude to Civil War,"" emphasize the extent of the southern white working-class and its organizations and their relation to anti-slavery movements, and reiterate Aptheker's claims of broad southern opposition to secession, as well as the existence of widespread slave revolts and violence. The Civil War, he believes, was a counterrevolutionary move by southern slaveowners in the face of widening opposition to slavery in the south and economic pressures from the north. In this context, he sees the Abolitionist movement as revolutionary in its implications. These essays are followed by two on the Civil War itself, with the emphasis again on the role played by blacks in defeating the southern ruling class; but once the war was over, Aptheker writes, the northern bourgeoisie turned on its black and working-class allies and consolidated its exclusive power. It is a measure of his success that much recent revisionist history has been done on these themes; but such works--most notably Genovese's Roll, Jordan, Roll--have concluded that he overestimated the extent of slave revolts and organized opposition. The remaining seven pieces are pure polemic, dealing with the impact of racism on working-class consciousness, the iniquities of ""bourgeois"" historians, the glories of the Communist Party and of Lenin, and--in one frightening piece--on the rising classes (who are, of course, ""progressive"") as the bearers of Truth. Aptheker is still not tame, but the historical profession he's been prodding for so long has finally overtaken him.

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: International Publishers

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION