In Dubious Battle is a relentlessly fast-paced, admirably observed novel of social unrest and the story of a young man’s struggle for identity. Set in the California apple country, a strike by migrant workers against rapacious landowners spirals out of control. A principled defiance metamorphoses into blind fanaticism.

Caught in the upheaval is Jim Nolan, a once aimless man who finds himself in the course of the strike. He briefly becomes its leader and is ultimately crushed in its service.