Ken Fuller's previous book, Forcing the Pace: The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, from Foundation to Armed Struggle, traced the history of the PKP from 1930 to the mid 1950s. In A Movement Divided, he continues the story until the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

The author traces the PKP's painstaking attempts to rebuild, its conclusion of a political settlement with Marcos in 1974, and the development of the increasingly anti-imperialist stance which informed its approach to Marcos. The three congresses held by the PKP during this period are considered in detail, as are the two splits which occurred-that leading to the formation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in 1968, and the ""Marxist-Leninist Group"" split in 1972.

The current volume considers the CPP's ""semifeudal"" characterization of the mode of production, its approaches to religion and alliances, and its ""protracted people's war."" The book differs from most other studies on this subject, discussing the growth of Maoism in China and the manner of its introduction to the Philppines, and arguing that it is impossible to achieve an accurate view of the CPP's impact unless it is considered alongside the PKP and the developments in which that party was involved when the split occurred.