The Letters of Sacco and Vanzetti (Penguin Classics)

By Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Nicola Sacco, Richard D. Polenberg, et al.

Book Overview

Commemorating the eightieth anniversary of Sacco and Vanzetti's execution- with a new cover and new foreword Electrocuted in 1927 for the murder of two guards in Massachusetts, the Italian- American anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti defied the verdict against them, maintaining their innocence to the end. Whether they were guilty continues to be the subject of debate today. First published in 1928, Sacco and Vanzetti's letters represent one of the great personal documents of the twentieth century- a volume of primary source material as famous for the splendor of its impassioned prose as for the brilliant light it sheds on the characters of the two dedicated anarchists who became the focus of worldwide attention.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143105078
• ISBN13: 9780143105077
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.7" x 0.7" x 5.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Remarkable and Moving

This is the most important testament to a now largely forgotten tragedy of American politics. Sacco and Vanzetti were essentially convicted and executed for being unpatriotic foreigners, regardless of the crime they were accused of [for which no specific evidence was presented against them]. They waited for seven years in prison before their execution, during which time they wrote these letters. Their English, though it improved through the years, was never fully accomplished. But the results are extraordinary. The letters express ideas about life, society, faith, politics and human feelings, and the often clumsy and misused language actually makes the expression more lucid and more beautiful. The path of trial, appeal and final sentencing runs through clearly, and as the end approaches the letters are inexpressibly heartbreaking, as when Sacco asks his wife to tell his daughter "that I love her so much, and again, so much." This book has been in and out of print since the late 1920's, and is often unavailable in libraries because patrons steal it. It is a blessing that Penguin has brought it back.