The Roots of American Communism

New York: Viking Press, 1957. First edition. 1 vols. 8vo. Cloth. Some light wear to dust jacket, else fine. First edition. 1 vols. 8vo. An important book. Not only is this book a "definitive history" of the American Communist Party (according to the dust jacket blurb), it is also an important historical document. Draper's history is generally an accurate narrative of the growth of the Communist Party in America from its founding in 1919 to its emergence from the underground shadows in the 1920's. Draper was also an important figure in the American left during its intellectual love affair with communism in the 1930's, and I like Dwight MacDonald, "choose the west" in the aftermath of Stalin's purges and World War II, and in the emergence of the Red Scare of the late 1940's and early 1950's. This book is a product of that fascinating history, as well as a useful history itself.