The three volumes of Debs's correspondence contain more than 1,500 of the 10,000 extant letters to and from Debs during his controversial lifetime. J. Roberts Constantine spent more than a dozen years compiling, editing, and annotating this collection. Reading Debs's correspondence with the leaders and foot soldiers of the major social movements of his time helps trace the progress of such struggles as woman suffrage, prison reform, abolition of child labor, early attacks on Jim Crow laws, and opposition to war.