Radicals in America

Radicals in America offers the first complete and continuous history of left-wing social movements in the United States from the Second World War to the present.

Howard Brick (Author), Christopher Phelps (Author)

9780521515603, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 July 2015

366 pages, 20 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm, 0.63 kg

'An ambitious, yet successful, systematization of the whole history of American radicalism from 1945 to the present, as well as a fruitful attempt to distill its gist. Radicals in America is the kind of herculean job that only two consummate experts in the field, such as historians Brick and Phelps, could have achieved.' Luca Falciola, International Labor and Working-Class History

Radicals in America is a masterful history of controversial dissenters who pursued greater equality, freedom and democracy - and transformed the nation. Written with clarity and verve, Radicals in America shows how radical leftists, while often marginal or ostracized, could assume a catalytic role as effective organizers in mass movements, fostering the imagination of alternative futures. Beginning with the Second World War, Radicals in America extends all the way down to the present, making it the first comprehensive history of radicalism to reach beyond the sixties. From the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, its coverage extends to the Battle of Seattle and Occupy Wall Street. Each chapter begins with a particular life story, including a Harlem woman deported in the McCarthy era, a gay Japanese-American opponent of the Vietnam War, and a Native American environmentalist, vignettes that bring to life the personal within the political.

Introduction: margin and mainstream
1. War and peace, 1939–1948
2. All over this land, 1949–1959
3. A new left, 1960–1964
4. The revolution will be live, 1965–1973
5. Anticipation, 1973–1980
6. Over the rainbow, 1980–1989
7. What democracy looks like, 1990 to the present
Conclusion: radicalism's future.

Subject Areas: Political activism [JPW], 21st century history: from c 2000 - [HBLX], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK]