"Jimmie Higgins" by Upton Sinclair is a gripping novel about a working-class hero who fights against war and injustice with all his might. Jimmie Higgins may be small and meek at the start, but he becomes a conscious and defiant fighter for his class by the end of the book. Sinclair takes readers on an adventure-filled journey through strikes,...More
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer and political activist who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sinclair's work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943.
In 1906, Sinclair acquired particular fame for his classic muck-raking novel The Jungle, which exposed labor and sanitary conditions in the U.S. meatpacking industry, causing a public uproar.
Many of his novels can be read as historical works. Writing during the Progressive Era, Sinclair describes the world of the industrialized United States from both the working man's and the industrialist's points of view. Novels such as King...More
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer and political activist who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sinclair's work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943.
In 1906, Sinclair acquired particular fame for his classic muck-raking novel The Jungle, which exposed labor and sanitary conditions in the U.S. meatpacking industry, causing a public uproar.
Many of his novels can be read as historical works. Writing during the Progressive Era, Sinclair describes the world of the industrialized United States from both the working man's and the industrialist's points of view. Novels such as King Coal (1917), The Coal War (published posthumously), Oil! (1927), and The Flivver King (1937) describe the working conditions of the coal, oil, and auto industries at the time.
Sinclair was an outspoken socialist and ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a nominee from the Socialist Party. He was also the Democratic Party candidate for Governor of California during the Great Depression, running under the banner of the End Poverty in California campaign, but was defeated in the 1934 elections.
Book Summary
"Jimmie Higgins" by Upton Sinclair is a gripping novel about a working-class hero who fights against war and injustice with all his might. Jimmie Higgins may be small and meek at the start, but he becomes a conscious and defiant fighter for his class by the end of the book. Sinclair takes readers on an adventure-filled journey through strikes, jails, munitions explosions, draft-boards, army-camps, submarines and battles. Jimmie Higgins even meets presidential candidates and royalty and incites strikes wherever he goes. This novel is a captivating portrayal of a man who loses everything multiple times but keeps fighting for what he believes in. The book shows how war changes people and takes them to unexpected places. "Jimmie Higgins" is a story about the resilience of the working class and their struggle for democracy and social justice.
Upton Sinclair
