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NEW BOOK: THE “S” WORD: A SHORT HISTORY OF AN AMERICAN TRADITION… SOCIALISM BY JOHN NICHOLS PUBLISHED: 9TH MAY 2011 ----------------------------------- “A chilling reminder of how much rich American history has been erased by shallow messaging. A crucial book.” – Naomi Klein, author of THE SHOCK DOCTRINE and NO LOGO. ------------------------------------ Leading US journalist John Nichols offers a sharp and unapologetic retort to the return of red-baiting in American political life – arguing that socialism has a long, proud American history. Socialism is not usually considered a major force in American history. The US has never had a labour party, has some of the worst employment laws in the world and has a vocal anti-union lobby. Before, after and especially during the Cold War public discourse in the US (to a much greater extent than in Western Europe) has been virulently anti-communist. McCarthy’s witch-hunts are only the best-known example. In today’s America, “socialist” rather than “communist” (although to right-wing commentators they are often synonymous) is the Right’s most powerful watchword, intended to convey the dangerous, radical tendencies of the Left. In 2010 Newt Gingrich warned against the infiltration of American government, media, and academia by socialists, describing it as “even more disturbing than the threats from foreign terrorists.” Meanwhile Fox News’ Glenn Beck draws millions of viewers with his theories of a socialist-Islamist-environmentalist conspiracy to take over America, and Sarah Palin rails against Obama’s “experiment with socialism”. Yet there is another American history. THE “S” WORD reclaims America’s diverse and progressive history to provide an essential corrective to the revisionism of contemporary right-wing commentators and politicians. He reminds us that “the authors of the American credo were not free-market capitalists preaching laissez-faire mantras of ‘survival of the fittest’, ‘close the borders’ or ‘government is the problem’.” Nichols reclaims key figures in American history, such as Thomas Paine – lionised by right-wing libertarians like Glenn Beck and the inspiration for Beck’s Common Sense – and Abraham Lincoln, showing how they can be considered part of a broad socialist tradition overlooked by contemporary historians. ----------------------------------- “[A] search for the legacy of our homegrown radicals.” – WASHINGTON POST http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-s-word-by-john-nichols-is-a-history-of-american-socialism/2011/03/10/AFbIg12C_story.html “Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols’s sword is the sharpest.” – Gore Vidal “John Nichols is the toughest, most in-your-face investigative reporter in the U.S.A.” — Greg Palast “An important reminder of the invaluable strains of socialist thought throughout American political history, from fighting despotism to creating universal health care…. Nichols brilliantly exposes Glenn Beck's acute ignorance of [Tom] Paine” – KIRKUS “What? Not a nasty foreign import? As American as Walt Whitman and Emma Lazarus? Much as John Nichols’ timely book may befuddle Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, Americans embarrassed by the slurs surrounding all things socialist will find much to think about in THE “S” WORD.” – Laura Flanders, GRITtv host and author/editor of AT THE TEA PARTY and BUSHWOMEN ----------------------------------- JOHN NICHOLS is Washington correspondent for THE NATION, a contributing writer for the PROGRESSIVE and IN THESE TIMES, and associate editor of Madison, Wisconsin’s Capital Times. He’s the author of several books, including The Death and Life of AMERICAN JOURNALISM, THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT and THE “S” WORD. ----------------------------------- ISBN: 978 1 84467 679 8 / $19.95 / £12.99 / $25.00 CAN / Paperback / 336 pages ----------------------------------- For more information about THE “S” WORD or to buy the book visit: http://www.versobooks.com/books/548-the-s-word ----------------------------------- Visit Verso’s website for information on our upcoming events, new reviews and publications and special offers: http://www.versobooks.com Become a fan of Verso on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Verso-Books/205847279448577 And get updates on Twitter @VersoBooks http://twitter.com/VersoBooks ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
