Daniel DeLeon, the odyssey of an American Marxist / L. Glen Seretan.

Includes bibliographical references ( pages [272]-296.) and index.

1. The early quest for identity -- 2. University years -- 3. Political evaluation -- 4. The turn to Marxism -- 5. The party of Socialism -- 6. Toward a broader-based party -- 7. The new trade unionism -- 8. Industrialism -- 9. The life and legacy of DeLeon.

This is the first authoritative biography of Daniel DeLeon, an enigmatic and compelling figure in the history of American Marxism. He was the leader of the Socialist Labor Party (for years the only active socialist party in America) and he was active in the Knights of Labor and the Industrial Workers of the World. He fought the “pure and simple” trade unionism of Samuel Gompers and founded the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance as an alternative. He was, L. Glenn Seretan writes, “probably the most gifted and original Marxist intellectual to focus his attention on the problems attending revolution in the advanced capitalist civilization of the United States.”