Communist Writing in Anti-Communist Times
Book review

Smith, Judith E.
http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/3988
Date Written:  2013-09-01
Publisher:  Against The Current
Year Published:  2013
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX20091

A book review of 'American Night: The Literary Left in the Era of the Cold War.'

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

American Night is the third volume of Alan Wald's capacious study of the Communist-led literary left from the 1930s through the 1950s. This trilogy, launched in 2002, follows his earlier books about Trotskyist and anti-Stalinist writers on the left. It makes the case for the significance of Communist writers and their literary production within 20th-century literary history, and as an important part of the cultural history of the Communist left in these important decades.

To this project Wald brings exhaustive knowledge of the history of, and membership in, 20th-century radical movements. The books' publication makes widely available the fruits of Wald's indefatigable labors in archives, his extensive interviews over many years, and his sophisticated readings of particular works of fiction and poetry.
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