Red Diapers: Growing Up in the Communist Left
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Red Diapers: Growing Up in the Communist Left ISBN 0252021614 is the first anthology of autobiographical writings by "Red Diaper Babies," —children of communist-associated parents. Edited by Judy Kaplan and Linn Shapiro, the anthology was published by the University of Illinois Press in 1998, it contains memoirs, short stories, and poems. Among the 40 authors are such well know figures as Carl Bernstein, Kim Chernin, scientist Richard Levins, David Wellman, a woman's historian Rosalynn Fraad Baxandall, and Robert Meeropol (son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg)
It has been widely praised by some of the major figures of 20th century radical politics, reviewed in radical and academic periodicals, used as a textbook in radical history courses at Pennsylvania State University , East Stroudsberg University , and reviewed by the mainstream media.
- Bettina Aptheker, Humbooks, UCLA "extraordinary multi-author account of how it felt and what it meant to grow up Communist in twentieth-century America "
- Angela Davis, "A remarkable collective memoir. . . . It bears witness to a powerful tradition of radical 'family values' from which emerged a generation of leftist organizers who have made an indelible mark on U.S. social movements. Perhaps most importantly, this wonderful volume demystifies the process of radicalization by foregrounding the humanity of those of us whose family legacies have been defined by radicalism."
- Pat Devine, University of Manchester in Communist History Network Newsletter "This is a wonderful book. Through it we enter a world populated by ordinary people who did extraordinary things in exceptional circumstances as they worked to make the world a better place."
- Meredith Tax, Women's Review of Books," April, 1999 (" Not only does it address historical issues central to the Left, but also questions of concern to anyone who wants to know how a political subculture can be maintained...")
- Leslie Paris, "Journal of Women's History" v.12 (4)