Labor Struggles in the Deep South

And Other Writings Covington Hall & David Roediger ed.     1999     264p     5x 8 In the half-century since it was written, Hall’s Labor Struggles In The Deep South, has become an underground classic among activist historians writing on the South and on working people. Hall—journalist, organizer, rebel, professor, and poet—brings … Continue reading Labor Struggles in the Deep South

The Stockade Stood Burning

Rebellion and Convict Lease in Tennessee’s Coalfields, 1891-1895 Sweet Tea     2010     32p     5 x 8 From the back cover: “Something happened in Tennessee, something almost unimaginable to the mine owners and politicians of that state. When the companies tried to intimidate their workers by bringing in convict labor to … Continue reading The Stockade Stood Burning

The Lowry Wars

Attacking North Caolina’s Plantation Society in the Age of Reconstruction NC Piece Corps     2012     32p     5 x 8 On December 21st, 1864, a wealthy slaveholder and minor official of the Confederacy named James P. Barnes was ambushed on his way to the Post Office in Robeson County, North Carolina. After … Continue reading The Lowry Wars

Uncle Tom’s Children

Richard Wright     1938     336p     MMPB Wright’s first book is set in the American Deep South. Each of the powerful novellas collected here concerns an aspect of the lives of black people in the post-slavery era, exploring their resistance to white racism and oppression. $1-5 Other works involving richard wright, … Continue reading Uncle Tom’s Children

The Octopus

A Story of California Frank Norris     1901     400p     MMPB Based on an actual, bloody dispute between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, this is the story of the waning days of the frontier West. This is the first of two books in the incomplete The Epic … Continue reading The Octopus

Jumping the Line

The Adventures and Misadventures of an American Radical William Herrick     2001     280p     6 x 9 Jumping the Line offers a vivid, sobering, first-hand account of Left culture in America’s heady days of the 20s through the 40s. William Herrick grew up in New York City with pictures of Lenin … Continue reading Jumping the Line

Holding the Line

Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983 Barbara Kingslover    1989    213p    5 x 8 Hundreds of families held the line in the 1983 strike against Phelps Dodge Copper in Arizona. After more than a year the strikers lost their union certification, but the battle permanently altered the social order in … Continue reading Holding the Line

Black Boy

A Record of Childhood and Youth Richard Wright 1945 448p 5 x 8 Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a ‘drunkard,’ hanging about in taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was … Continue reading Black Boy

American Negro Slave Revolts

Herbert Aptheker 1943 428p 5 x 8 A pioneering work that demolished the widespread claims that African Americans accepted slavery and were passive. Includes the story of Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey Gabriel and others. $8-15 Other works involving slave revolts, nat turner, slavery, armed struggle, race, escape, sabotage, excarceration, the south, 1800s

Runaway Slaves

Rebels on the Plantation J.H. Franklin & L. Schweninger     1999     480p     6 x 9 From John Hope Franklin, America’s foremost African American historian, comes this groundbreaking analysis of slave resistance and escape. A sweeping panorama of plantation life before the Civil War, this book reveals that slaves frequently rebelled … Continue reading Runaway Slaves