The Fight in the Fields

The Fight in the Fields

No man in this century has had more of an impact on the lives of Hispanic Americans, and especially farmworkers, than the legendary Cesar Chavez. Born to migrant workers in 1927, he attended 65 elementary schools before finishing 7th grade, the end of his formal education. Through hard work, charisma and uncommon bravery he moved on to become founder and leader of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) and to win a degree of justice for tens of thousands of workers...and to set a moral example for the nation.

This book tells of Chavez and his union’s struggles: to raise farmworker pay from .40 an hour; to win union recognition from savagely resistant grape and lettuce growers; to stop the use of deadly pesticides that were killing children in the fields. The pacifist Chavez endured several month-long fasts to counteract what he saw as a growing tendency toward violence in the farmworker movement, and many think those heroic acts contributed to his early death, at the age of 64.

Robert Kennedy called Chavez “one of the heroic figures of our time.” Few would disagree with that assessment.

“A necessary and important book.”
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

“The book of record of the farmworker’s fight...Cesar Chavez was a great man who deserved a thoughtful, respectful book. He got one.”
THE SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS