Short answers, pulled from the story.
Monthly Review was founded in 1949 by Marxist economist Paul Sweezy and left-wing author Leo Huberman, with initial funding from literary scholar F. O. Matthiessen, who committed $5,000 per year for three years. The magazine launched in May 1949 with 450 subscribers.
Albert Einstein contributed the lead essay to Monthly Review's debut issue in May 1949. The essay was titled "Why Socialism?" and was secured for the magazine by founding editor Otto Nathan, a German emigre who was instrumental in obtaining the piece.
Monthly Review continued publishing through the McCarthyism period despite direct pressure on its editors. Paul Sweezy was subpoenaed by New Hampshire Attorney General Louis C. Wyman, found in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about his lectures and beliefs, and ultimately won his appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court case Sweezy v. New Hampshire.
Monthly Review reached its highest circulation of 11,500 in 1977, following growth during the New Left era. By 1970, circulation had already approached 9,100, up from 6,000 in the mid-1950s.
Monthly Review Press was founded in 1951 because left-wing journalist I. F. Stone could not find a commercial publisher for his book The Hidden History of the Korean War. Stone's work, which argued the conflict resulted from North Korean political isolation and South Korean military buildup rather than simple Communist aggression, became the press's first title when it was published in 1952.
In 1983, Monthly Review faced its most severe financial crisis, caused by a combination of recession, inflation, sharply higher printing costs, and declining circulation following the weakening of the American left. An emergency appeal to subscribers successfully raised $100,000, allowing the magazine to avoid insolvency.