The Prophet's Children: Travels on the American Left (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This is a moving story of a life lived on the American Left, written by one of its leading figures - a personal narrative told with a critical spirit, full of the flavour of what being part of the Far Left is really like. Spanning three decades - from the 1950s to the 1970s - and covering political life in Britain, France, and Mexico as well as the United States, the author's political journey brought him into intimate contact with the major trends and personalities within American Trotskyism and its other forms throughout the world, enabling him to present a portrait of a distinct movement that has so far been largely neglected by historians of the Left.

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Humanity Books (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573922854
• ISBN-13: 978-1573922852
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,593,107 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning The Lessons, August 19, 2001

By	Thomas M. Seay (Palo Alto, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are like me and trying to understand how to rebuild the American Left, then this is a book that you should read.

The one lesson that the American Left has failed to learn, and this is apparent from reading Wolforth's book, is that we must abandon democratic-centralism in favor of pluralism. Almost all streams of the radical Left in this country have one source..Leninism. It was Lenin who created the one party state and who began the suppression of all opposition. The American Left has carried forward this model with disastrous results: small fragmented left groups, each claiming a monopoly on the truth. This happened with the old CPUSA, the 4th Internationale Trotskyist movement (of which Wolforth was a leader) and the new Communist movement that emerged in the 70s.

We need to shed this model and build a pluralistic, heterodoxic democratic Left. Mr. Wolforth's book sheds light on this and provides other lessons for our movement from his rich experience.

Thomas Seay

5.0 out of 5 stars The Left Fades Away, April 22, 2009

By	Maurice W. Knutson Jr. - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Prophet's Children: Travels on the American Left (Historical Memories) (Paperback)

I met Tim Wohlforth in the early 1970s when he headed up the Workers League, a left split from Socialist Workers Party. His group later bounced him. So he's been around the blocks and knows what he's talking about. A professional journalist, he has a pleasant writing style. Between the lines, his book is sad. A few thousand people wasted their time in little groups that went no where.