The pamphlets reprinted here were first published in the 1910s amid great controversy. Even then, the tactics of direct action and sabotage were often associated with the cartoonists’ image of the disheveled, wild-eyed anarchist armed with stiletto, handgun, or bomb—the clandestine activity of a militant minority or the desperate acts of the unorganized.The activist authors of the texts in this collection challenged the prevailing stereotypes. As they point out, the practices of di...

**“This country's leading hell-raiser" (The Nation) shares his impassioned counsel to young radicals on how to effect constructive social change and know “the difference between being a realistic radical and being a rhetorical one.”"A superlative organizer, strategist, and tactician who is also a social philosopher.” —Charles E. Silberman**First published in 1971 and written in the midst of radical political developments whose direction Alinsky was one of the first...

"A brilliant full-length portrait of Franklin Roosevelt the politician"—the first in an award-winning two-volume biography ( The Christian Science Monitor).Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving president in United States history, reshaping the country during the crises of the Great Depression and World War II. But before his ascension to the presidency, FDR laid the groundwork for his unprecedented run with decades of canny political maneuvering...

The New York Times –bestselling biography of President Lyndon Johnson from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author, "America's historian-in-chief" ( New York Magazine ).With a new foreword by the authorFeaturing a 2018 foreword by the Pulitzer Prize–winning political historian that celebrates a reappraisal of Lyndon Johnson's legacy five decades after his presi...

“Bernays’ honest and practical manual provides much insight into some of the most powerful and influential institutions of contemporary industrial state capitalist democracies.”—Noam Chomsky“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”—...

A collection of Ronald Reagan's private thoughts, jokes, and favorite quotations from the #1 New York Times–bestselling editor of The Reagan Diaries.Ronald Reagan left behind a legacy that America will never forget. Now, in this one-of-a-kind collection of his most intimate thoughts, his favorite quotations by others, and his own most collectible jokes, all culled from a newly disclosed set of personal notecards he kept throughout his life and care...

Legendary community organizer Saul Alinsky inspired a generation of activists and politicians with Reveille for Radicals, the original handbook for social change. Alinsky writes both practically and philosophically, never wavering from his belief that the American dream can only be achieved by an active democratic citizenship. First published in 1946 and updated in 1969 with a new introduction and afterword, this classic volume is a bold call to action that still resonates...

A groundbreaking investigation of how and why, from the 18th century to the present day, American resistance to our ruling elites has vanished.From the American Revolution through the Civil Rights movement, Americans have long mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. Hierarchies based on inheritance, wealth, and political preferment were treated as obnoxious and a threat to democracy. Mass movements envisioned a new world supplanting dog-eat-dog ...

This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs.In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence — and derail — the larger agendas of a political party. He investigates the politics of the irrational, shedding ligh...

A look at corporate authoritarianism that William Shirer called "the best thing I've ever seen on how America might go fascist democratically."In 1980, US capitalist politics wore a "nice-guy mask," a troubling disguise to cover up a creeping despotism in which the ultra-rich and corporate overseers were merging with a centralized state power in order to manage the populace. This immanent corporate authoritarianism threatened to subvert constitutional democracy. But...

A wartime manifesto on the moral obligations of democratic citizens from the most influential first lady in American history.With the threat of the Third Reich looming, Eleanor Roosevelt employs the history of human rights to establish the idea that at the core of democracy is a spiritual responsibility to other citizens. Roosevelt then calls on all Americans, especially the youth, to prioritize the well-being of others and have faith that their fellow citizens will...

An "immensely interesting" account of how Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor led the United States through some of its most turbulent decades (David McCullough).The Three Roosevelts is the extraordinary political biography of the intertwining lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who emerged from the closed society of New York's Knickerbocker elite to become the most prominent American political family of the twentieth century.As Pulitzer Prize– ...