veewatson 's review for:

American Radicals: How Nineteenth-Century Protest Shaped the Nation by Holly Jackson

5.0

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You've heard of that old worn saying " Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"? As you read Holly Jackson's compelling history, it dawns on you how we are often we do repeat themes of history and how much of it we don't remember, even our own country. Jackson calmly dismantles the notion of an ignorant or innocent past, because in the history of radicalism we find the same critiques and the same defenses of progressive ideas, surprisingly relevant and current. Of course, in different words, different contexts with complex individuals of their times and passionately unique aims. We are introduced in clear and engaging prose to characters and movements that have left indelible marks on our social movements today and on the nation itself. And it imparts meaning and perspective we all could benefit from.

Writing: A-
Story/Hypothesis: A
Accuracy and Research: B+