I am grateful to Professor Sherry Warman and the staff of the Interlibrary Loan Department of the Brooklyn College Library for their valuable assistance in obtaining the materials necessary for my research. I also thank the Professional Staff Congress (American Federation of Teachers Local #2334) and the City University of New York for a PSC-CUNY Award for release time from teaching that helped me to finish this project.
I owe special gratitude to a number of people who have criticized and commented on partial and complete drafts of the manuscript while it was in preparation: César Ayala, Mel Bienenfeld, Adolfo Gilly, Dan Labotz, Corey Robin, and Francisco Sobrino. I owe special thanks to Thomas Harrison, whose editorial assistance played an important role in the development of this project.
I am deeply indebted to an anonymous reader for the University of North Carolina Press who provided me with very valuable criticisms and insightful comments. Professor Louis A. Pérez Jr. read my entire manuscript as a reader and adviser to the University of North Carolina Press and made numerous penetrating and useful criticisms. He also made himself available for several very helpful telephone consultations. I thank him for his generosity and graciousness. I am solely responsible for the views expressed in this book.
This project could not have been carried out without the invaluable and unstinting editorial guidance and support of Elaine Maisner, senior editor at the University of North Carolina Press. I thank her warmly. I am thankful as well to Ellen Goldlust-Gingrich and Ron Maner, respectively copyeditor and project editor for this book.
I give special thanks to my stepson, Daniel Marks, for his technical help in preparing this manuscript for publication. To my wife, Selma Marks, I owe eternal gratitude not only for her detailed criticisms but also for her limitless support, patience, and endurance.