A Red Family

''An extraordinary set of reminiscences, beautifully put together by an extremely sensitive, even gifted interviewer. It is a jewel.'' Glenda Gilmore, author of Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950 ''With extremely rich, intelligent, and honest reflections, A Red Family speaks to a host of issues that are relevant to an important emerging debate among historians of American labor and the Left. Junius Scales's recollections address fundamental problems in the history of American communism in a way that should prove valuable to historians who want to avoid both uncritical adulation and the 'red menace' caricature on offer in much of the current work.'' Brian Kelly, author of Race, Class, and Power in the Alabama Coalfields, 1908-21 ''Junius Scales is a fascinating character whose experiences tell us so much about his period, and Friedman's family approach opens up new angles on the story.'' James R. Barrett, author of William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism