Who could predict that a British aristocrat would so energize American antiwar and civil rights struggles that Time magazine would crown her “Queen of the Muckrakers”? Jessica Mitford, fifth of the six famous “Mitford Girls,” was brought up by an eccentric English family to marry well and reproduce her wealth and privilege, not to advocate for the less advantaged. Her five beautiful sisters have been subjects of books and movies dedicated to their naughty, glamorous lives. Jessica—known as Decca—ran away to America to forge a wilder rebel’s life. As this richly researched book details, Decca broke the Mitford mold—fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War, becoming an American Communist and pioneering witty, wildly popular journalism, including her blockbuster The American Way of Death, placing her at the heart of social justice battles. Decca relentlessly injected laughter into her politics, encouraging the activists she influenced to do likewise. From famed baby doctor Benjamin Spock