To aid this campaign and reach those looking for working-class solutions to the questions posed by the presidential elections in the United States, the Pathfinder Super Saver sale has been extended through November 30 (see ad linked to this page).
Following are excerpts from reports on Pathfinder sales at two recent book fairs. Such sales around the world play an important part in the effort to get books and pamphlets on revolutionary politics into the hands of working people and youth.
This is the largest book fair in Nordic Europe. Over 108,000 people attended this year. It was held at a giant exhibition center in the city where trade shows of all sorts, featuring everything from industrial machinery to Swedish military hardware, are held on an almost weekly basis.
Along with staffing the booth, team members also sold the Militant at three plant gates: the giant Volvo plant, a large ball-bearing factory, and a packinghouse. We also set up Pathfinder tables downtown, in several working-class districts around the city, and at the University of Gothenburg. Altogether, we sold a total of 127 books, along with 21 Militant subscriptions, 54 copies of the Militant, and 2 copies of Perspectiva Mundial. Top sellers were The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning by Jack Barnes in Swedish, English and Spanish (23); Socialism and Man in Cuba in Swedish and English (16); The Communist Manifesto in English, Spanish and Swedish (11); Capitalism’s World Disorder: Working Class Politics at the Millennium (7); New International no. 10: Imperialism’s March Toward Fascism and War in Swedish, English and Farsi (5); and Cuba and the Coming American Revolution in English and Spanish (4).
Two students came to the book fair after talking to volunteers staffing a table on their campus. After buying several Pathfinder titles, they each bought Militant subscriptions. “We can share the books but we both need our own paper,” one said.
Following a discussion on the Militant’s coverage of the Socialist Workers 2004 presidential election one young worker in the electrical union who bought a Militant subscription also paid up front for a copy of Capitalism’s World Disorder. The title had sold out and would be mailed to him later.
At the fair’s end, the team did some sales visits to bookstores in Gothenburg. A large downtown bookstore ordered 17 titles.
While Spain has a history of intervention into parts of Africa, including Equatorial Guinea, whose population speaks Spanish as a result, few had ever heard of Sankara. The booth rapidly sold out of the Habla Malcolm X (Malcolm X speaks) as people took advantage of the special sale price of 5 euros for that book.
The Spanish-language edition of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics; Working Class Politics and the Trade Unions was among the best sellers, with 13 copies sold.
This annual festival is sponsored by the Communist Party of Spain and attracts a range of people, including many youth who camp out on the grounds where it is held for the weekend.