Book Description

Charles Edward Russell was a muckraking journalist who exposed the dark underside of America's class system at the turn of the 20th century. The scandals he revealed through investigative reporting led to some of the most important and largest reform efforts of the period, in areas such as housing, prisons, and race reform. A Pulitzer Prize winner, author of 27 books, and a founder of the NAACP, Russell has nonetheless faded from public view. In this book, Robert Miraldi restores him to his rightful place in history. Miraldi's biography of Russell sheds light on the Hearst and Pulitzer newspaper empires, the growth of yellow journalism, and numerous scandals of the period (including Lizzie Borden's murder of her parents and the gruesome details of the Chicago meatpacking industry). It also provides a fascinating look at the growth of the American Socialist Party, of which Russell was an active member until he resigned when his pro-World War I stance brought him into conflict with other members of the Party.