Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel (Italian and Italian American Studies (Palgrave Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Nunzio Pernicone (Author)

Book Description

Series: Italian and Italian American Studies (Palgrave Hardcover) | Publication Date: September 29, 2005

This biography reveals the life of one of the American left's most controversial and charismatic figures in the early twentieth century: anarchist, activist, and revolutionary Carlo Tresca. Emigrating to America at age twenty-five from Italy, Tresca became a leader in the fight for workers' rights, alongside activists like Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Emma Goldman. Tresca played many roles for his cause: newspaper editor, labor agitator and organizer, civil libertarian, anti-fascist, and an indomitable foe of Stalinism. He continued to fight for the rights of the oppressed until gunned down by Mafioso Carmine Galante, a crime which would never be prosecuted. This engaging book not only relates Tresca's adventure-filled story, but brings to life the volatile world of radical politics in early twentieth century America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One could hardly find a more thorough and finely balanced investigation into the daily fabric of Tresca's life. Pernicone has brought to light and clarified myriad twists and turns of a sleepless fight, with a no-nonsense attitude which points straight to the nitty-gritty."

--Journal of Modern Italian Studies

 

"What comes out of this is a world that has barely been written about and never in-depth: the role of anarchists in the ILGWU and their role in the various factional fights, the role of anarchists in early anti-fascist organizations and again, their role in various factional fights. But what mainly comes out is both sides of the FBI's and the American Government's dalliances with Italian fascism. It is not for the faint of heart. It is a damning indictment."

--Anarcho-Syndicalist Review

 

"A major gap in the radical history of the United States has at last been filled . . . By recovering Tresca's story, Pernicone's work sheds light on the critical role of immigrants, both as leaders and as foot soldiers in creating and, at least for some time, consolidating a mass base of the Left."

--Altreitalie

 

"The book is extremely well written, with verve and punch.... It is the story of a colorful, heroic, flamboyant figure told in an accesible way that will earn a wide readership."

--Philip V. Cannistraro, co-author of Il Duce's Other Woman

"Nunzio Pernicone has clarified and corrected the historical record, shedding new light on the meaning of  Tresca’s life and putting it fully into the context of a turbulent era.  Based on an extraordinary amount of research in primary and secondary Italian and American sources, he has written the definitive biography of this charismatic and fearless rebel. For anyone interested in Italian-American studies, labor history, and radical politics—or who seeks an in-depth understanding of early twentieth century United States history--Pernicone’s biography of Tresca is must reading."--Spencer M. Di Scala, Professor and History Graduate Program Director, University of Massachusetts Boston.

"Carlo Tresca finally has the biography which he richly deserves.  Based on more than thirty years of research, Nunzio Pernicone has scrupulously and meticulously redeemed the life and death of one of the most charismatic figures in the history of American radicalism. With impressive scholarship, Pernicone portrays Tresca in the context of the Italian American labor and anti-fascist movements of which he was a central actor. Tresca emerges from this volume as a fearless and unrelenting champion of liberty and justice."--Rudolph J. Vecoli, Professor of History, University of Minnesota

 

From the Inside Flap

“The book is extremely well written, with verve and punch.... It is the story of a colorful, heroic, flamboyant figure told in an accesible way that will earn a wide readership.”--Philip V. Cannistraro, co-author of Il Duce’s Other Woman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403964785
• ISBN-13: 978-1403964786
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,981,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carlo Tresca, May 6, 2011

By 

Tripp - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel (Paperback)

In my opinion, this book portrays a unique and interesting perspective of the political and socioeconomic conditions in Twentieth Century USA, up to and including World War II. It exemplifies how the grab for power not only distorts the ideals of organizations, but more importantly of political and socioeconomic systems (i.e. Communism, Socialism and even our Capitalistic Democracy). It depicts how an Anarchist is created. For me, this book was intellectually stimulating.

The author, Nunzio Pernicone, eloquently fills out many of the facts for which I had been searching regarding the years leading up to the time when my family left their home town of Sulmona in the Abruzzi Region of Italy and the times of their first and second generations in America. Actually, I recall that my father related the legend of Carlo Tresca to me when I was a young man.

This solidly academic historical account is built around the life and death of Carlo Tresca who was a unique, dynamic and extraordinarily complex character. Tresca was a true individual that, perhaps, I could more easily understand because of my Italian heritage and my Sulmona roots. This book shows how Tresca developed as a "Rebel", an "Agitator", a "Radical" and an "Anarchist" by tirelessly fighting for the dignity and rights of the hard working immigrants that built this country. Tresca used his toughness, as well as his oratory and literary skills to resist the corrupt authorities of his time (including Capitalists, Socialists, Fascists and Stalinists) who sought to control and exploit the lives of hard working people. He passionately strove to realize the socioeconomic system that best served the ideal of a country "of the people, by the people and for the people". Rejecting the concept of working through the system and "playing ball" with the establishment, Tresca became an anarchist and was labeled a radical. I saw him more as a heroic figure - a fighter for Liberty and an advocate for many of the hopeful immigrants who were greeted by the Statue of Liberty and instead found exploitation, mistreatment and oppression from the sweat shops of New York City, the mills in New Jersey and Massachusetts, the company towns in the coal mine regions of Pennsylvania. He associated with some of the most interesting activists of his time including Clarence Darrow, Upton Sinclair and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.

Reading the book has left me thinking about the best socioeconomic system to effectively deliver the "liberty and justice for all" that Tresca sought. I only wish that I could bring Tresca back and have dinner with him at his favorite Italian restaurant in NYC to discuss the evolution of America in the Twentieth Century. We would talk about how the influence of large corporations and wealthy capitalists on our country has only grown larger. He'd be disgusted over the diminution of labor unions, the loss of jobs and how the difference in wealth between the upper class and the middle class has widened. I'd tell him how the U.S. Supreme Court has enabled the influence of big money on politics. What would he think about the consolidation of the news media now owned by large corporations? He'd get even more agitated to hear about the total government deregulation of industries, particularly the financial industry. He would probably declare that we've become an Oligarchy. My guess is that Tresca would really fire up! If you have any spark of rebellion within you, this book is a "must read".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A True Rebel, June 25, 2009

By 

Alejandro Anreus "Alejandro" (New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel (Italian and Italian American Studies (Palgrave Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I have read several essays as well as an earlier extraordinary book by Prof. Pernicone. This biography, the product of many years of research, is a magnificent piece of accessible scholarship. In its pages Tresca comes alive in all his dimensions and full context, proof that Pernicone is the Tresca scholar par excellence.
Tresca wa "the real deal" as an anarchist; he took on capitalists and clergymen, fascists and mafiosi,as well as stalinists. A true rebel in our increasingly conformist age.
A terrific read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, April 19, 2011

By 

J. Picardi "jphs5" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel (Paperback)

Carlo Tresca was a secular humanist who courageously fought for the rights and dignity of early 20th century workers in America. An anarchist, he opposed all who would subjugate and oppress susceptible immigrants of all nationalities. He opposed fascists, capitalists, communists, monarchists, and papists because he saw through the specious ideologies through which they worked.
This book is very well written and provides a concise review of the times leading up to the New Deal and World War II. The reader will be introduced to many characters that impacted American history either because they worked with Tresca or against him.
A very worthwhile read.