Upton Sinclair

First published in 1928, public domain in the US and Canada. The protracted trial of Sacco and Vanzetti was the most controversial political event of the 1920s. Today, more than seventy years after their execution, the events surrounding the case of Sacco and Vanzetti are still the source of debate. Truly, it is the "case that would not die." Surprisingly, of all the books that have appeared over the years concerning the case, the most complete and...

This book aims to demonstrate how the invisible pressure from prominent corporations controls American society and the education system. The book was written in response to public comment by Dr Tildsley in May 1922 that schools are no longer run to the benefit of children. This statement is the book's thesis, which is informative and persuasive. It examines details of the schooling system, the curriculum and the politics surrounding schools in America....

Gnomes are rare these days - which is why so few people ever see them. But, Elizabeth and her Uncle find two forlorn little people, the last of a tribe of California Redwood gnomes. When they hear Glogo's sad story, they get in Uncle Rodney's shiny car (The Gnomobile) to search for another tribe of gnomes and a wife for young Bobo. But curiosity seekers cause one problem after another until something really terrible happens... Bobo and Glogo are gnome-gnaped! This...

Both of Upton Sinclair's Sylvia novels are featured in this volume, exploring gender inequality and societal corruption in early 1900s America. Socialist writer Upton Sinclair tells the story of Sylvia Castleman, a Southern US girl in the early twentieth century, across two volumes, Sylvia (1913) and Sylvia's Marriage (1914). Sylvia is a society woman who is determined to fight against the stereotypes for her gender. Her story is narrated in first...

The Goose-step: A Study of American Education is a book, published in 1923, by the American novelist and muckraking journalist Upton Sinclair. It is an investigation into the consequences of plutocratic capitalist control of American colleges and universities. Sinclair writes, "Our educational system is not a public service, but an instrument of special privilege, its purpose is not to further the welfare of mankind, but merely to keep America capitalist."...

Excerpt: "The thought of the time has familiarised us with the evolutionary view of things, we understand that life is the product of an inner impulse, labouring to embody itself in the world of sense, and that the product is always changing-that there is nothing permanent save the principles and laws in accordance with which development goes on. We understand that the universe of things was evolved by slow stages into what it is to-day, that all...

Sinclair's first Book of Life covered Mind and Body. A year later, in 1922, the crusading novelist followed it up with Love and Society. Sinclair attempted to establish what is known about life and truth, beyond cliché and self-deception. Here the author examines marriage, sex, money, "Love versus Lust," the "Ruling Classes," social and industrial revolution, and "Mankind Remade."

With America at war, Lanny Budd risks life and limb from North Africa to Moscow on behalf of the Allied cause Members of the German high command believe that American art expert Lanny Budd is sympathetic to their cause, but since 1938 he has been an undercover agent working for President Franklin Roosevelt. Now, in 1941, the United States has been pulled into the fray by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and Lanny's services are required more than...

A documentary novel portraying industry's conditions at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Sinclair's novel prompted public outrage which led President Theodore Roosevelt to demand an official investigation. This eventually led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug laws.