Upton Sinclair's The Jungle - Unabridged

by Upton Sinclair

Overview

In 1904, writer Upton Sinclair - a so-called "muck-raking" journalist - went undercover at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago to investigate and expose the working conditions imposed upon the employees of the city's meat-packing industry. What Sinclair discovered shocked the nation.  

In addition to unsanitary, cruel and dangerous conditions for the workers, Sinclair also discovered that the meat being shipped out from the Stock Yards was often rotten and contaminated, with rancid meat being stuffed into sausages rather than discarded. Immigrant workers and poor native Americans alike were often exploited, forced to work at highly dangerous, menial and deadly jobs, exposed to dangerous chemicals and subjected to long hours in airless, fetid factories.  

Sinclair fashioned these stories into "The Jungle," a fictional but searingly realistic account of a young Lithuanian immigrant who finds himself in Chicago seeking his fortune, only to be thrust into a horrifying new existence as a worker in the Stock Yards.  

The book caused an immediate sensation upon its release and the accounts of worker exploitation - but especially the stomach-churning details of how meat was produced in America - led to vast social and political reforms, including the Meat Inspection Act and worker protections.  

"The Jungle" stands as one of the most important and influential books of the early 20th century and the reverberations from its release can still be felt today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798892821537
Publisher:	Ft. Raphael Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/11/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	169
File size:	999 KB

About the Author

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (1878 - 1968) was an American novelist, political activist and one of a group of early 20th century writers known as "muckrakers" (reform-minded journalists who exposed corruption). Best known for his novel "The Jungle," which tackled the American meat-packing industry and brought to light the exploitation of labor and poor sanitary conditions rampant in the trade, Sinclair was also active in politics (becoming the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California) and later won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943. Many of Sinclair's books resulted in both corporate and government action to clean up whatever ethical misdeeds Sinclair highlighted in his work. During his career, he took on the coal industry, oil production and auto manufacturing (among others), revealing the misconduct of (and thereby antagonizing) some of the corporate titans of the day, including Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller. An avowed (and loud) socialist, Sinclair ran unsuccessfully political office, first for Congress as a nominee from the Socialist Party and then as the Democratic Party candidate for governor of California, running under the banner of the End Poverty in California campaign.  During the 1940's, Sinclair completed a series of eleven novels featuring a character named Lanny Budd, a "Zelig"- or "Forrest Gump"-type character who often finds himself at the center of historical events. The third book in the series, "Dragon Teeth" won Sinclair the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Both an accomplished writer and committed social activist (sometimes both at once), Upton Sinclair was a singular and celebrated figure of 20th century letters and his writing is responsible for countless social, economic and industry reforms. Sinclair died in 1968 at age ninety, shortly after the death of his third wife.