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FLAT SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR at the front free endpaper. Very Good in a Very Good- DJ: The Book shows light shelving wear to the lower extremities; a former owner's name and '2BT' inscribed at the upper corner of the front free endpaper and the same owner's not-unattractive, but personalized book plate affixed to the front pastedown endpaper; one page shows a short closed tear at the bottom edge; the spine leans slightly but remains secure; the text is clean. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. A carefully-used copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing modest wear, and the noted flaws. The DJ shows a 1/4" x1/2" chip at the top of the front hinge and two half-inch closed tears to the top edge of the rear panel and another similar tear at the bottom edge of same; mild rubbing to the panels with very faint consequent soiling; the price ($2.50) is intact. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo (8.35 x 5.85 x 1.2 inches) . Language: English. Weight: 1 pound, 17.4 ounces. Rust-red cloth over boards with black titles at the backstrip. Deckle fore-edge. A striking drawing of Spartacus on the DJ cover. Hardback with DJ. Howard Fast (1914 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Fast began writing at an early age. His first popular work was Citizen Tom Paine, a fictional account of the life of Thomas Paine. Always interested in American history, Fast also wrote The Last Frontier (about the Cheyenne Indians' attempt to return to their native land, and which inspired the 1964 movie Cheyenne Autumn) and Freedom Road (about the lives of former slaves during Reconstruction). Fast spent World War II working with the United States Office of War Information, writing for Voice of America. In 1943, he joined the Communist Party USA and in 1950, he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities; in his testimony, he refused to disclose the names of contributors to a fund for a home for orphans of American mercenaries who fought on the Communist side of the Spanish Civil War (one of the contributors was Eleanor Roosevelt) , and he was given a three-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress. While he was at Mill Point Federal Prison, Fast began writing his most famous work, 'Spartacus', a novel about an uprising among Roman slaves. Blacklisted by major publishing houses following his release from prison, Fast was forced to publish the novel himself. It was a great success, going through seven printings in the first four months of publication. This book is much better Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Spartacus and far better than the movie version it inspired, a 1960 epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas in the title role, and adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Fast's novel. To begin with, Fast's Spartacus is eminently readable. Fast's book is filled with drama and character development that greatly enhances the story with which most people are familiar. Howard Fast is underrated - it's a shame his books are not more widely read these days. His historical fiction is some of the liveliest, creative, and informative literature available and it has aged very well. In this book, the characters are well-developed and multifaceted. In addition to being a good story and a great introduction to the Servile Wars of Rome, this is a passionately moral book. Fast does not try to hide his views on inequality, cruelty, and the value of human life. These remain astonishingly relevant now, and many passages could be used to describe the social and political dilemmas we face today. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 363 pages; Signed by Author.
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