Adversary in the House

Eugene V. Debs is the only prisoner who ever ran for president of the U.S.!!He got about a million votes too! He was convicted by the U.S. government under the espionage act and sentenced to 10 years.The title is very telling and I interpret as being a fulfillment of scripture even if Mr. Stone didn't intend it to be. Read Daniel Chapter 2, especially verses 40-45. Daniel is able to interpret a dream by Nebuchadnezzar which no one else could do. Read verse 43 especially. Many peoples would intermix through marriage. Marriage is a great medium through which one can prey upon their enemies. Yes, I wished Debs would have married Gloria, his childhood sweetheart. I've read several of Irving Stone's books and loved every one of them. He, like Michener, will not only tell a good story but will educate you in the process. Both authors go to GREAT lengths to research their subjects. At times, their books can be tiresome, at least to me, because of so much information that is unfamiliar. But I am a slow reader who will not skim past the details.The book is dear to my heart because both my paternal grandfather and greatgrandfather were railroad engineers. My grandfather was born in 1894 and given the name Charles Debs Lumm. Most railroaders absolutely loved Eugene V. Debs. He was a tireless worker, defender of worker's rights. He helped establish the 8 hour work day and managed to organize the railroad workers so that they would no longer be subject to the railroad companies' whims. Many engineers and firemen were disabled for life or tragically killed in train wrecks in the early days of rail. The cost, financially, for the families so affected, so many, many times, would utterly impoverish them. Debs laid the groundwork for unions and insurance practices from those circumstances. However, I'm not so sure he would approve of the current state of those businesses today.Debs' socialism was probably not the same as the socialism of today. At the turn of the century, there were populist/socialist movements all over the world.Railroad, for good or ill, transformed American society. This book is a good one to read about a significant man who lived during an interesting chapter of railroad history, who may have composed most of that small chapter himself.

Though the first few chapters took some time..the rest of the book was really AMAZING. I have read a lot of books by the same author but have found this one to be one of his best.While reading the book, i did wish that Mr Debbs would distance himself from Socialism - which he finally came to believe in- but then towards the end, it was clear that it was a different kind of socialism that he was interested in. Also, i wish he had married Gloria instead of Kate; that way, both Kate and Eugene would have had happier private lives. It was also heartening to see Gloria stand up for Eugene through his ordeals- when his wife refused to oblige.All this makes for an interesting read, especially since history is fused so well with his private life. I would strongly recommend this book to those interested in reading real good stuff; the other attraction being its reality.