The Pen is Mightier: The Muckraking Life of Charles Edward Russell Book

Charles Edward Russell was a muckraking journalist who exposed the dark underside of America's class system at the turn of the twentieth century. The scandals and social problems he revealed through aggressive, investigative reporting led to some of the most important and largest reform efforts of the period. A Pulitzer Prize winner, author of twenty-seven books, and a founder of the NAACP, Russell has nonetheless faded from public view. In this book, Robert Miraldi restores him to his rightful place in history, shedding light on the Hearst and Pulitzer newspaper empires, the growth of yellow journalism, and numerous headlines of the period-including Lizzie Borden's murder of her parents and the gruesome details of the Chicago meatpacking industry. It also provides a fascinating look at the growth of the Amer-ican Socialist Party, of which Russell was an active member until his pro-World War I stance brought him into conflict with other members of the Party, prompting his resignation.Read More