Max Shachtman and His Left

A Socialist's Odyssey through the American Century

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by Peter Drucker

Humanity Books

Due/Published January 1994, 367 pages, paper

ISBN 1573923451

A key figure in the 1960s civil rights, labor, and peace movements, Max Shachtman was originally a Communist from Harlem, a leader in the fight to save Sacco and Vanzetti, Trotsky's "commissar for foreign affairs," an organizer of the 1934 Minneapolis general strike, and a principled opponent of World War II. He helped chart the strategy of the civil rights movement through associates like Bayard Rustin and Stokely Carmichael, and built a network of influence for the AFL-CIO within the Democratic Party. But, ultimately, Shachtman's support for the Vietnam War helped to break apart the progressive network he had so painstakingly pieced together and contributed to the decimation of the U.S. Left. Drawing on previously untapped archives and recent interviews, this first full-length biography of Max Shachtman and comprehensive study of his thought adds a new dimension to the study of U.S. labor and socialism.