The New Communist Movement

A lost chapter in American radicalism-uncovered and re-evaluated.

The New Communist Movement: Party-Building in 1970s America is a gripping political history. With roots in the civil rights and antiwar movements emerged a new generation of revolutionaries determined to build a working-class communist party-many inspired by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Revolution. This movement, though largely forgotten today, mobilized thousands, shook factory floors in Detroit, and turned campuses into ideological battlegrounds.

Caleb T. Maupin offers a sharp, narrative-driven account of how these young radicals broke from liberal reform, rejected countercultural escapism, and waged a serious struggle for socialism. With vivid stories of the brutal murder of Emmett Till, the rise and fall of SDS, Fred Hampton's assassination, factory wildcat strikes, FBI sabotage, and the disillusioning twists of Chinese foreign policy, this book tells the story of a movement that dared to dream big-and paid the price.

Blending historical insight with a critique of modern leftist orthodoxy, Maupin argues that today's activists can't afford to ignore the lessons-good and bad-of the New Communist Movement. This is not just a history book. It's a challenge to reimagine what revolutionary organizing can look like in America.