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Days of Rage

America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence
bibliotechnocrat
Oct 05, 2016bibliotechnocrat rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
While I'm glad to have read this, I'm not at all sure it is a good read. Burrough's research is exhaustive (to the point of being exhausting sometimes), and it is a revelation to realize how thoroughly the culture has forgotten this period of 1970s violence. This book gives context to current violent trends - turns out there is really nothing new. On the other hand, the author laments the lack of success in prosecuting the radicals, failing to connect the dots between the illegal behaviour of the cops and FBI and the reason for the radicalization in the first place. The failure of the state to live up to its promise of fair treatment, justice, equal opportunity - and instead provide the Vietnam war, Nixon's dirty tricks, Hoover, a stacked justice system, patently illegal law enforcement behaviour.... Might these things have something to do with why some turned from protesters into violent radicals? Might the heavy-handed response of the state to protest culture (Kent State anyone?) have pushed some over the edge? Burrough fails to make this case leaving this book somehow incomplete despite its length. Because of this, the book comes off as an interesting piece of period history, and does not make the point that we are living in a very similar time. Are we really condemned to repeat this history? Alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same.