Protest Nation - by Timothy Patrick McCarthy & John McMillian (Paperback)

About the Book

"Protest Nation" is a guide through the speeches, letters, broadsides, essays, and manifestos that form the backbone of the American radical tradition in the twentieth century. With examples from socialists, feminists, union organizers, civil-rights workers, gay and lesbian activists, and environmentalists that have served as beacons for millions, the volume also includes brief introductory essays by the editors that provide a rich biographical and historical context for each selection included. Selections include a fiery speech by socialist Eugene Debs, an astonishing treatise on animal liberation by Peter Singer, "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson, Harvey Milk's "The Hope Speech" and many others.

Book Synopsis

Historic writings by socialists, LGBT activists, environmentalists, and more: "An extraordinary collection of the voices of American dissidents." -Howard Zinn

Protest Nation is a guide to the speeches, letters, broadsides, essays, and manifestos that form the backbone of the American radical tradition in the twentieth century. With examples from socialists, feminists, union organizers, civil-rights workers, gay and lesbian activists, and environmentalists that have served as beacons for millions, the volume also includes brief introductory essays by the editors that provide a rich biographical and historical context for each selection. Included are:

*a fiery speech by socialist Eugene V. Debs
*an astonishing treatise on animal liberation by Peter Singer
*an excerpt from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
*Harvey Milk's "The Hope Speech"
*the original Black Panther Party Platform
*Peter Singer's astonishing treatise on animal liberation
*plus writings from Upton Sinclair, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Betty Friedan, Malcolm X, César Chávez, and more

About the Author

Timothy Patrick McCarthy is Lecturer and Director of the Human Rights and Social Movements Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. Educated at Harvard College and Columbia University, where he received his PhD in History, he is co-editor of The Radical Reader (New Press, 2003) and Prophets of Protest (New Press, 2006). McCarthy was an outspoken critic of the Iraq War, and a founding member of Barack Obama's National LGBT Leadership Council.

John McMillian has Ph.D. in American history from Columbia University, and his dissertation was honored by the American Journalism Historians Association. He is author of Tom Paine's Children: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media (Oxford, 2010) and Beatles Vs. Stones: The History of a Legendary Rivalry (forthcoming, Free Press). His scholarly essays have appeared in Radical History Review, Rethinking History, and the Journal for the Study of Radicalism, and he is co-editor of The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture.