author
John Spargo
1876–1966
A British-born reformer, writer, and speaker, he rose to prominence in American socialist circles before reshaping himself as a historian of Vermont life and craftsmanship. His career moved across politics, labor, biography, and local history, giving his work an unusual range.
7 Audiobooks
"The Greatest Failure in All History" A Critical Examination of the Actual Workings of Bolshevism in Russia
by John Spargo
The Jew and American Ideals
by John Spargo
The Common Sense of Socialism A Series of Letters Addressed to Jonathan Edwards, of Pittsburg
by John Spargo
The Bitter Cry of the Children
by John Spargo
Bolshevism: The Enemy of Political and Industrial Democracy
by John Spargo
The Marx He Knew
by John Spargo
About the author
Born in Cornwall, England, in 1876, John Spargo left school young and worked as a child laborer before continuing his education through independent study and extension courses. He moved to the United States in the early 1900s and quickly became a visible public intellectual in the Socialist Party of America, writing and lecturing on labor, poverty, and social reform.
Spargo became especially well known for books that brought big political questions to general readers, including works on socialism, child labor, and Karl Marx. During World War I he broke with the Socialist Party over its antiwar stance, and in later years he became a strong critic of Bolshevism and revolutionary communism.
Later in life, he settled in Vermont and turned much of his attention to regional history, ceramics, and folk art. He helped found the Bennington Historical Museum, later known as the Bennington Museum, and became an important figure in preserving and interpreting Vermont's cultural history.