The Lives of Agnes Smedley
Search in google:
Was she a selfless political activist? A feminist heroine? A gifted writer who rose from poverty to become a leading journalist and author of the cult classic Daughter of Earth? A spy for the Soviet Union? Or all of these things? Drawing on fifteen years of intensive research and unprecedented access to previously unpublished documents, this vibrant book brings to life one of the twentieth century's most fascinating women. Ruth Price traces Agnes Smedley's unlikely trajectory from a small Missouri town to the coal country of Colorado; to Berkeley and Greenwich Village; to Berlin, Moscow, and China. Fueled by a fury at injustice, Smedley threw herself headlong into the crucial issues of the time, from Indian independence to birth control, women's rights, and the revolution in China. Her friends included such figures as Margaret Sanger, Langston Hughes, Emma Goldman, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mao Zedong, and many others. Perhaps most important, Price uncovers an astonishing truth: Smedley, long thought to be the unfair target of a Cold War smear campaign, was indeed guilty of the espionage charges leveled against her by General Douglas MacArthur and others. Smedley worked to foment armed revolution in India and gathered intelligence for the Soviet Union, seeing it as a bulwark against fascism. Price argues that Smedley acted out of a passionate idealism and that she exhibited a courage and compassion worthy of a renewed, if more complicated, admiration today. Epic in scope, painstakingly researched, and unflinchingly honest, The Lives of Agnes Smedley offers a stunning reappraisal of one of America's most controversial Leftists and a new look at the troubled historical terrain of the first half of the twentieth century. Library Journal Price has clearly devoted a significant amount of time and effort to researching Agnes Smedley, and her careful examination pays off in this intimate yet inclusive biography. When Smedley died during the Cold War in 1950, her life's work of Socialist activism was intertwined with accusations of espionage, and she has been puzzling even her supporters ever since. Born in the United States, she found a home wherever there was political unrest, social inequality, or underdogs to be championed. Consequently, the 1920s-40s found her in Germany, China, and the Soviet Union, mixing with revolutionaries and intellectuals. Her talent as a writer and her charismatic personality gave her access to the dramatic world of expatriate intrigue, and her private life was no less tumultuous. Price takes great care in reconstructing the historical and individual time lines and uses extensive personal papers to re-create Smedley's unsettled life story. Especially of note are revelations confirming her intelligence activities for the Soviet Union. This scholarly biography is accessible to those unfamiliar with Smedley. Recommended for academic libraries.-Elizabeth Morris, Illinois Fire Service Inst., Champaign Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
