One of the most important American novels of the twentieth century, The Jungle shocked a nation with its horrifying depiction of the meatpacking industry and the dangerous labor performed by its impoverished, exploited workers. In this first annotated edition of Upton Sinclair's muckraking classic, James Barrett provides students and scholars with a broader understanding of the events and the milieu that led Sinclair to write the book.
 

 James R. Barrett is professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His works include The Irish Way: Becoming American in the Multi-Ethnic City and Work and Community in the Jungle: Chicago's Packinghouse Workers, 1894-1922.