The Jungle

In this powerful book we enter the world of    Jurgis Rudkus, a young Lithuanian immigrant who arrives    in America fired with dreams of wealth, freedom,     and opportunity. And we discover, with him, the    astonishing truth about " packingtown, " the    busy, flourishing, filthy Chicago stockyards, where    new world visions perish in a jungle of human    suffering. Upton Sinclair, master of the    " muckraking" novel, her explores the workingman's    lot at the turn of the century: the backbreaking    labor, the injustices of " wage-slavery, "     the bewildering chaos of urban life. The    Jungle, a story so shocking that it    launched a government investigation, recreates this    startling chapter if our history in unflinching    detail. Always a vigorous champion on political reform,     Sinclair is also a gripping storyteller, and his    1906 novel stands as one of the most important --    and moving -- works in the literature of social    change.

In this powerful book we enter the world of  Jurgis Rudkus, a young Lithuanian immigrant who arrives  in America fired with dreams of wealth, freedom,  and opportunity. And we discover, with him, the  astonishing truth about "packingtown," the  busy, flourishing, filthy Chicago stockyards, where  new world visions perish in a jungle of human  suffering. Upton Sinclair, master of the  "muckraking" novel, here explores the workingman's  lot at the turn of the century: the backbreaking  labor, the injustices of "wage-slavery,"  the bewildering chaos of urban life. The  Jungle, a story so shocking that it  launched a government investigation, recreates this  startling chapter if our history in unflinching  detail. Always a vigorous champion on political reform,  Sinclair is also a gripping storyteller, and his  1906 novel stands as one of the most important --  and moving -- works in the literature of social  change.

In this powerful book we enter the world of Jurgis Rudkus, a young Lithuanian immigrant who arrives in America fired with dreams of wealth, freedom, and opportunity. And we discover, with him, the astonishing truth about "packingtown," the busy, flourishing, filthy Chicago stockyards, where new world visions perish in a jungle of human suffering. Upton Sinclair, master of the "muckraking" novel, here explores the workingman's lot at the turn of the century: the backbreaking labor, the injustices of "wage-slavery," the bewildering chaos of urban life. The Jungle, a story so shocking that it launched a government investigation, recreates this startling chapter if our history in unflinching detail. Always a vigorous champion on political reform, Sinclair is also a gripping storyteller, and his 1906 novel stands as one of the most important -- and moving -- works in the literature of social change.

Jane Jacobs is one of the most original economic and sociological thinkers of our day. Her books include the classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities and, most recently, The Nature of Economies, both of which are available in Modern Library clothbound editions. She lives in Toronto.