Of all the 'third party' movements in American history, none have been as controversial as the Communist Party of the United States of America. Although denounced as a tool of the Soviet Union, accused of espionage and charged with advocating the revolutionary overthrow of the American government, before WWII it had been an accepted part of the political landscape. This collection offers an intriguing insight into this controversial political party in light of the Moscow archives that were made accessible after the end of the Cold War. This collection of original essays explores new aspects in the history of American Communism, drawing on a range of documents from Moscow and Eastern Europe. Examining traditional subjects in the light of new evidence, the essays cover a range of topics including party leaders, espionage, campaigns against racism, the Spanish Civil War, communism and gender, the fate of members after the McCarthy era and ways in which Communists became Anti-Communists.

Not a narrative history, but a range of views on the Communist International, also called Comintern and the Third International, founded by the Soviet government in March 1919, and dissolved in May 1943. Authors of the 18 papers, from a symposium in July 1995 in Exeter, England were asked to provide new insights based on the recent availability of the Comintern archive in Moscow. They look at the view from the Soviet center, European parties, and parties in the Americas and Asia. Unfortunately none considers the relationship of the Australian Communist Party to the International, about which much has been written. Distributed in the US by St. Martin's Press. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Important American periodical dating back to 1850.

A reference guide to the history of radical and progressive movements in America. More than 600 articles cover key figures, events, issues, organizations, and concepts, including Thomas Paine, Black Panther Party, Emma Goldman, Peace Movements, Students for a Democratic Society.

Much of the Western academic establishment believes that the cultural productions of the Soviet Union and other communist countries were so ideologically skewed as to make them worthless as literature. Juraga (formerly English and comparative literature, U. of Arkansas at Fayetteville) and Booker (English, U. of Arkansas) suggest that this view is, in itself, ideologically skewed and an example of Western propaganda. They present eight essays that attempt a historical recovery of the legacy of socialist culture in both the Eastern Bloc countries and in the West. Among the topics explored are the similarities between African novels and works of Soviet socialist realism, comparisons of Soviet and American musical comedies, the influence of Bertoldt Brecht on the works of British socialist filmmaker Ken Loach, and a critical review of the scholarship of the 1990s about the American Left. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Contains primary source material.