Table of Contents

Foreword Preface List of Illustrations PART ONE Introduction: Upton Sinclair and the Social Novel PART TWO The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair PART THREE Related Document Theodore Roosevelt, The Report of Mr. James Bronson Reynolds and Commissioner Charles P. McNeill, Special Committee Appointed to Investigate the Conditions in the Stock Yards of Chicago, June 4, 1906 Appendixes Chronology Questions for Consideration Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author

CHRISTOPHER PHELPS is Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University at Mansfield, USA.

Reviews

'Phelps has written an excellent introduction that places The Jungle in a multitude of political, social, and literary genres, thus making the book accessible to all sorts of readers and useful within a multiple set of academic disciplines.' -Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara 'This is a remarkably well-researched introduction, written with passion and intelligence.' - Michael Kazin, Georgetown University

'Phelps has written an excellent introduction that places The Jungle in a multitude of political, social, and literary genres, thus making the book accessible to all sorts of readers and useful within a multiple set of academic disciplines.' -Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara 'This is a remarkably well-researched introduction, written with passion and intelligence.' - Michael Kazin, Georgetown University

This angry novel created a furor when it was originally published in 1906. The author painfully details the sorrows of a Lithuanian immigrant family working in Chicago's meat-packing plants during the bad old days before worker's compensation and disability, unemployment insurance, social security, fair labor practices, and court-appointed lawyers. In addition to losing their home, the family endure the deaths of a grandfather, an uncle, a child, a mother and her second child (in childbirth), the older children (to the streets), and finally the cherished firstborn son. By exposing the horribly unsanitary practices in the plants, this novel prompted federal legislators to protect the public from unsafe meat. While this story is emotionally draining to listen to, the audio version provides an excellent production of a classic novel. Reader George Guidall turns in another fine performance. Recommended.-Luana Ellis, Jamestown Community Coll. Lib., Olean, N.Y.