Protest Nation

Words That Inspired a Century of American Radicalism

Edited by Timothy Patrick McCarthy and John McMillian

paperback

$17.95 / £12.99

This is an extraordinary collection of the voices of American dissidents. Even to browse through it is to be delighted and inspired.
—HOWARD ZINN, AUTHOR OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

America has recently re-awakened to the idea that real change is possible. Yet this present moment is just a point on a journey that extends over a century of activism and struggle—one that has been kept alive by a powerful American tradition of inspiring radical alternatives to the status quo.

Protest Nation is a guide through the speeches, letters, broadsides, essays, and manifestos that form the backbone of this tradition-a much more accessible trade edition of The Radical Reader, which was published for the academy.  Here are the words—from socialists, feminists, union organizers, civil-rights workers, gay and lesbian activists, and environmentalists—that have served as beacons for millions. Their radical arguments and ideas are links in a chain reaching from the present back through decades of radical thinking and movement-building. 

Brief introductory essays by the editors provide a rich biographical and historical context for each selection included. Protest Nation presents the most significant and brilliant examples of radical writing, in a concise volume geared for anyone interested in reconnecting with the deep currents of American radical thinking. These range from a fiery speech by Eugene Debs, the great socialist orator; to the original Black Panther Party Platform; to Peter Singer’s astonishing treatise on animal liberation, among many others.

Timothy Patrick McCarthy is Lecturer on History and Literature and on Public Policy at Harvard University, where he directs the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. An award-winning scholar, teacher, and activist, he is editor of The Indispensable Zinn and co-editor of The Radical Reader and Prophets of Protest, all published by The New Press. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John McMillian is the author of Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America and co-editor of The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture. They both live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.