Reply #7: Read "The Long Detour" [View All]

[deutsey]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=40

The Long Detour is an intellectually engaging overview of the history of socialism in the United States and of the continuing relevance of socialist principles today. In These Times founding editor and publisher James Weinstein, a lifelong socialist and one-time Communist, takes readers from the movement's early years of utopian communities, through the heyday of engagement with the makers of corporate America, and into the future of a de-industrializing era.

He contends that socialism as a political movement was sidetracked when Communist domination of the American left stifled creative social thought and diverted the traditional left into sterile disputes over the true nature of the Soviet Union. And he argues that while "real existing socialism" is dead, the humane social principles articulated by Marx and the leaders of the pre-1917 socialist movement remain vitally important to those on the left who seek to realize the promise of American democracy. Hardcover.

"James Weinstein is the rarest of all public intellectuals: an informed optimist. In The Long Detour, Weinstein uses his deep understanding of American history, his encyclopedic knowledge of the successes and failures of the American left, and his own rich experience as a journalist and activist to make the case that this nation can still realize its radical promise. With its confident arguments and graceful writing, The Long Detour is THE necessary book for progressives who still believe that the good fight can be won." —John Nichols, The Nation