Reed, John (1887–1920)

US journalist and author. As a supporter of the Bolsheviks, Reed published his account of the Russian Revolution in Ten Days that Shook the World 1919. Later indicted in the USA for sedition, Reed fled to the Soviet Union, where he died in exile.

Born in Portland, Oregon, and educated at Harvard, Reed began his journalism career on the staff of the American Magazine 1911. Becoming involved in radical politics, he joined the staff of Masses 1913. He later published his accounts of overseas conflicts in Insurgent Mexico 1914 and The War in Eastern Europe 1916.

In 1919 Reed organized the Communist Labor Party (USA), and founded and edited its organ, The Voice of Labor.