By the Light of Burning Dreams - Large Print by David Talbot & Margaret Talbot (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Northern California Book Award for General Nonfiction

New York Times bestselling author David Talbot and New Yorker journalist Margaret Talbot illuminate "America's second revolutionary generation" in this gripping history of one of the most dynamic eras of the twentieth century--brought to life through seven defining radical moments that offer vibrant parallels and lessons for today.

The political landscape of the 1960s and 1970s was perhaps one of the most tumultuous in this country's history, shaped by the fight for civil rights, women's liberation, Black power, and the end to the Vietnam War. In many ways, this second American revolution was a belated fulfillment of the betrayed promises of the first, striving to extend the full protections of the Bill of Rights to non-white, non-male, non-elite Americans excluded by the nation's founders.

Based on exclusive interviews, original documents, and archival research, By the Light of Burning Dreams explores critical moments in the lives of a diverse cast of iconoclastic leaders of the twentieth century radical movement: Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers; Heather Booth and the Jane Collective, the first underground feminist abortion clinic; Vietnam War peace activists Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda; Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers; Craig Rodwell and the Gay Pride movement; Dennis Banks, Madonna Thunder Hawk, Russell Means and the warriors of Wounded Knee; and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's politics of stardom. Margaret and David Talbot reveal the epiphanies that galvanized these modern revolutionaries and created unexpected connections and alliances between individual movements and across race, class, and gender divides.

America is still absorbing--and reacting against--the revolutionary forces of this tumultuous period. The change these leaders enacted demanded much of American society and the human imagination. By the Light of Burning Dreams is an immersive and compelling chronicle of seven lighting rods of change and the generation that engraved itself in American narrative--and set the stage for those today, fighting to bend forward the arc of history.

By the Light of Burning Dreams includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert.

Review Quotes

"If you've read either of the Talbot siblings, you know they don't write anything dry. Simple saviors and canned profiles in courage are not for them. These essays bristle with energy and contention. . . . Whether covering the labor organizing of Cesar Chavez, the gay pride of Craig Rodwell or the celebrity activism of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Talbots are guided by dogged reporting and an instinct for finding and telling a story. Even if you know these revolutionaries, you'll find details here to surprise you. They might even make you want to go out and make a difference yourself." - San Francisco Chronicle
"An intelligent and sympathetic reappraisal of the political upheavals of the '60s and' 70s. . . . An abundance of fresh material gives this book an intergenerational appeal. . . . Through sharp reporting and good storytelling, the authors enliven a journalistic genre that in less skilled hands might have gone flat." - Kirkus
"By the Light of Burning Dreams crackles with the radical energy of the 1960s and 70s. It's a shot in the arm of bold idealism, an indispensable companion for today's revolutionaries that reminds us what can happen if we dare to believe in - and fight for - a better world." - Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland
"In these linked portraits of activists and radicals at a watershed moment in history, David and Margaret Talbot tell a profound story about idealism in action and the rousing, inspiring, often messy ways in which popular movements and charismatic individuals fight injustice and bring about revolutionary transformation. By turns sweeping and intimate, and built on fresh interviews and original reporting, By the Light of Burning Dreams feels like necessary reading in our own tumultuous moment: an urgent reminder that change can happen and a vivid illustration of how it does." - Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing
"The timing is perfect for By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution, a fresh, deeply-reported examination of some of the most effective movement organizers to emerge in the 1960s....After a global pandemic dramatically increased already untenable inequity overlapped with the radical reassertion ― in the streets and online ― that America is built on fundamentally false pretenses when it comes to equality, the Talbots provide a memorable blueprint for how individuals can continue the work even when the TV crews move on." - Scheer Post
"Wide-ranging yet accessible.... A loving but critical portrait of a generation whose effects are still felt today." - Library Journal
"[The Talbots] survey the seismic sociocultural changes that transpired in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s--what they call the Second American Revolution--by identifying seven discrete yet often intertwining movements or events of consequence.... The authors clearly admire the courage, political savvy, and sheer physical effort required to create and then sustain such critical movements, but they're also unsparing in saying that mistakes were made.... As a result, the Talbots have created a coherent narrative of mid-century political activism, from which readers can see the through lines of modern-day success or failure, and proceed from there." - Booklist, starred review
"Charismatic but flawed figures dominate this vibrant portrait of 1960s radical movements. . . . An exhilarating, inspiring outing." - Publishers Weekly