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hm_reads's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
tons of information here about jbs, which dallek contextualizes well, both for where jbs originated from and how its specific impacts still resonate into the 21st century. opened my mind up for a ton of follow-up questions, which is good. I wish more about their overlaps with armed movements was included, but topical coverage on Christianity, education, abortion, and conspiracy was thorough
readthesparrow's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Picked this up because I love the podcast Knowledge Fight and wanted to understand what the hosts meant when they mentioned Alex Jones' Bircher background.
Oh boy, do I know now.
The book itself, I would say, is actually 4 stars. If you want to understand why the Republican party is the way it is, you have to understand the JBS.
However, in terms of the audiobook version, there were very obvious cuts between takes that were distracting.
The beginning also began very quickly; it has been three months since I listened to the first chapter, so I might be misremembering, but I feel a chapter easing into the context rather than dropping directly into the beginnings of the movement would have been useful.
Oh boy, do I know now.
The book itself, I would say, is actually 4 stars. If you want to understand why the Republican party is the way it is, you have to understand the JBS.
However, in terms of the audiobook version, there were very obvious cuts between takes that were distracting.
The beginning also began very quickly; it has been three months since I listened to the first chapter, so I might be misremembering, but I feel a chapter easing into the context rather than dropping directly into the beginnings of the movement would have been useful.
xxstefaniereadsxx's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
The John Birch Society is a far-right political organization that was founded in 1958. These people were involved in some very questionable activities and took some very immature and questionable political stances. The book follows the timeline from conception to current. It is disgusting to me to see so many of these ideas still being shouted about to this very day. I listened to this book at work, and I am genuinely not sure how I managed to get any work done for rolling my eyes at the statements that were quoted in this book. Simultaneously, I kept thinking that all of the ridiculousness in this book really explains a lot about why so many of my family members are the way that they are. Vapid and rabid are two words that would describe the bulk of followers involved in this organization and these beliefs, especially once you do a quick Google search and see who supports this organization today. The book was very informative, despite being eye roll inducing, and I did learn a lot about this group and their activities over the years.