“Although the early portions of the book, which establish the historical and social contexts of the Popular Front, are interesting, readers may likely find most fascinating the later chapters on some of the artists who took part in the movement, including Billie Holiday, who first began singing “Strange Fruit” at a left-wing cabaret, Duke Ellington, and John Dos Passos. His essay on the antifascist crusading of Orson Welles — “the American Brecht, the single most important Popular Front artist in theater, radio, and film” — is particularly insightful. Like Ann Douglas's Terrible Honesty, The Cultural Front is a panoramic history that brings vibrancy and passion to the telling of American culture.” —Ron Hogan

Michael Denning teaches American Studies at Yale University. He is the author of Mechanic Accents: Dime Novels and Working-Class Culture in America (Verso), Cover Stories: Narrative and Ideology in the British Spy Thriller., and Culture in the Age of Three Worlds (forthcoming from Verso)