I read this because it in 1983 won the Bancroft Prize. It is the 36th such winner I have read. The author is quite sympathetic to Debs, though he does not hesitate to criticize him and point out his faults. But the book is not sprightly but is written rahter ploddingly. The long delving into intra-socialist squabblings is boring. The interesting legal cases Debs was involved in are not told very well, or at least not to a lawyer's satisfaction. Debs was not well educated, but was a powerful orator. I surely think the case which sent him to prison could have been more ably expounded upon by the author. ( )

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