The Jungle

This dramatic exposi of the Chicago meat-packing industry prompted an investigation by Theodore Roosevelt which culminated in the pure-food legislation of 1906.

New York Times Book Review

Mr. Sinclair in The Jungle has given the world a close, a striking, and, we may say, in many ways a brilliant study of the great industries of Chicago. . . . The language Mr. Sinclair employs is appropriate to the scene, the action, and the characters of his drama. . . . The experienced reader will at once perceive that Mr. Sinclair has taken Zola for his model. The likeness is more than striking -- it fairly forces itself upon the attention of the reader. . . .He has not written a second Uncle Tom's Cabin. -- New York Times review, March 1906; Books of the Century

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), novelist and journalist, is best known for his novel about the Chicago meatpacking industry, "The Jungle". A paperback edition of his "I, Candidate for Governor" is available from California. Jules Tygiel is the author of "The Great Los Angeles Swindle: Oil, Stocks, and Scandal during the Roaring Twenties" (paperback California, 1996) and "The Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy". He is Professor of History at San Francisco State University.