Publisher's Synopsis
Protagonist Rudy Messer, like so many of his 1930s New York contemporaries, is concerned primarily with knowing the right people, wearing the right clothes, and making as much money as possible. A chance meeting with Jewish socialist Izzi Bloch at a demonstration in favor of the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War, however, shakes up Rudy's comfortable lifestyle and inspires him to join the International Brigade. Moved by the outbreak of the war in Spain, Upton Sinclair wrote this novel with the dual purpose of informing American readers about the events on the Spanish battlefields, as well as warning the rest of the world about the danger that fascism's triumph in Spain would suppose. Providing an American point of view of a crucial moment is Spanish history, this entertaining historical novel will appeal to fans of Sinclair as well as readers interested in European history.
"El protagonista Rudy Messer, como tantos de sus contemporaneos de la Nueva York de los 1930s, esta mayormente preocupado con conocer la gente apropiada, vestirse de la manera apropiado y ganar cuanto dinero sea posible. Un encuentro fortuito con el socialista judio Izzi Bloch en una manifestacion a favor de las fuerzas republicanas en la Guerra Civil Espanola, sin embargo, sacude a Rudy de su vida comoda y lo inspira a unirse a la Brigada Internacional. Movido por el estallido de la Guerra Civil Espanola, Upton Sinclair escribio esta novela tanto para informar al lector estadounidense sobre los eventos en los campos de batalla espanoles como para alertar al mundo sobre el peligro que supondria el triunfo del fascismo en Espana. Proveyendo el punto de vista americano sobre un momento crucial en la historia espanola, esta entretenida novela historica deleitara tanto a los amantes de la obra de Sinclair como a los lectores interesados en la historia europea."
