The Marx He Knew

John Spargo (1876-1966) was a British progressivist writer and muckraker whose exposé The Bitter Cry of Children explores the living conditions of children in poverty stricken households. As a young man he trained as a stonecutter, and became a lay Methodist minister. He was attracted to the socialist doctrines of early English marxist Henry Hyndman and would serve on the executive council of the Social Democratic Federation before immigrating to New York City in 1901, and to Vermont in 1909. He became a leader of the Socialist Party of America and wrote an early English-language biography of Karl Marx. Later, he formed the Social Democratic League of America. He would become the Director-Curator of the Bennington, Vermont Historical Museum and write several books on ceramics. He researched and wrote a booklet on the history of his family name. He also wrote Socialism: A Summary and Interpretation of Socialist Principles (1906), The Common Sense of Socialism (1908), Bolshevism: The Ene