The Iron Heel

A futuristic tale of fascist tyranny and socialist revolution considered a classic work of American radical literature. Much admired by Eugene Debs, Leon Trotsky, and George Orwell.A prophecy in retrospect The Iron Heel concerns the era from 1912 to 1932, as viewed from seven hundred years in the future. A journal kept by Avis Everhard during that period, but not published until 419 B. O. M. (Brotherhood of Man), tells of her husband's part in organizing and carrying out the plans for the First and Second Revolts which eventually lead to worldwide socialism. The novel, which might better be described as a socialist tract rather than a work of fiction, progresses from the philosophical to the physical as the action moves from drawing room encounters between intellectuals to street clashes between militia and laborers. Because of its history of Labor strife, Chicago is the site chosen for the revolts, although most of the planning takes place in California.--Book Review Digest, 1908