Revolutionary Memory

Written by a foremost scholar of radical literature. Argues that political poetry is an important part of the American heritage. 50 rare period illustrations. Revolutionary Memoryis the most important book yet to be published about the vital tradition of leftwing American Poetry. AsCary Nelsonshows, it is not only our image of the past but also our sense of the present and future that changes when we recover these revolutionary memories. Making a forceful case for political poetryaspoetry,Nelsonbrings to bear his extraordinary knowledge of American poets, radical movements, and social struggles in order to bring out an undervalued strength in a literature often left at the canon's edge. Focused in part of the red decade of the 1930s,Revolutionary Memoryrevitalizes biographical criticism for writers on the margin and shows us for the first time how progressive poets fused their work into a powerful chorus of political voices. Richly detailed andbeautifully illustrated with period engravings and woodcuts,Revolutionary Memorybrings that chorus dramatically to life and set a cultural agenda for future work.

Cary Nelson is Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign