Agnes Smedley: The Life and Times of an American Radical

by Stephen R. MacKinnon and Janice R. MacKinnon

Book Overview

Country school teacher, birth control pioneer, socialist journalist, freedom fighter, writer--Agnes Smedley (1892-1950) was on the battlefront of American politics, the Indian struggle for independence, and the Chinese Communist revolution. In this coherent, intelligible, and engaging book, the MacKinnons offer us a superb portrayal of one of the most significant female political figures in recent American history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520059662
• ISBN13: 9780520059665
• Release Date: November 1987
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive biography that will stand the test of time.

The Mackinnons have done a great service in writing this book about a great American, as shown by their interviews which started on June 10, 1974 and ended on July 25, 1985. They also covered the world, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Calcutta, Zurich and in all parts of the U.S. Their knowledge and fluency in Chinese contributed to their research in ways that other biographers will have difficult in overcoming. Their devotion and sacrifice to their subject is amply demonstrated.It seems to this reviewer that two themes came together in Agnes Smedly's life and in the interests of the biographers, the feminist movement and China's attaining its status on the world political stage. Unfortunately during the time that it took to gather the material and write the book, both of the movements have changed substantially and the people interested in them have moved to other concepts and ideas. Another cross lays over the book- is it to be an academic treatise or a popular biography? The academic treatise seems to have won out and in large sections become a rote laying out of dates, times and movements.Not coming from the academic world, I have to assume that in order to have a proper foundation and references, this is the way it has to be done. Unfortunately, Smedly does not come to life. I had no feeling of the person involved. The parts that have fire and verve are those quotations from Smedley's own writings. Nothing is presented that contradicts her own analysis of herself and her point of view, whether from her novelized form, her personal correspondence or her other writings. I got the feeling that more of her own writings would have given a better picture than what was written.The book is well worth reading, but its greatest value may be in bringing together the material about Smedly in an organized form and its whereabouts for either the MacKinnons or others to write the biography that will bring her to life.(The MacKinnons were the principle organizers of the US/China Peoples Friendship Association of Phoenix in 1975).This review was written on August 15, 1988 by Frank Kadish. Jan MacKinnon died on Sunday, September 26, 1999 in Phoenix, Arizona.