Michael Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University and editor of Dissent. He is the award-winning author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918; American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation; A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan; America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (with Maurice Isserman); The Populist Persuasion: An American History; and Barons of Labor. In addition, he is editor-in-chief of The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History, co-editor of the anthology Americanism, and editor of In Search of Progressive America. Kazin has contributed to The Washington Post, The Nation, Democracy, The New York Times Book Review, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications and websites. He lives in Washington, DC, and is married to Beth Horowitz. They have two grown children.
** New York Times Editors' Choice **
“With his customary clarity and insight, Kazin draws our attention
to the remarkable group of individuals who argued—eloquently and
with great moral urgency—against intervention in World War I. They
lost the debate, but a singular achievement of this deeply incisive
book is to show the lasting resonance of their analysis and their
fears, down to our present day.”
*Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embers of
War*
“[A] fine, sorrowful history.... A timely reminder of how easily
the will of the majority can be thwarted in even the mightiest of
democracies.”
*New York Times Book Review*
“Michael Kazin's important history of American pacifism is a
compelling cautionary tale. It not only provides an arresting
history of a major American movement, it also reminds us of the
false hopes that drew us into World War I, Vietnam, Iraq, and
Afghanistan. The book should be required reading for aspiring
military officers and every politician pronouncing on U.S.
leadership around the globe.”
*Robert Dallek, bestselling author of An Unfinished Life*
“At a time when people tell veterans, ‘Thank you for your service,’
Michael Kazin reminds us of some largely forgotten people who
deserve our thanks far more: those who tried to keep us out of the
most terrible war the world had yet seen. The dissenters against
American participation in the First World War are still a model for
us, and Kazin evokes them with care and grace.”
*Adam Hochschild, bestselling author of To End All Wars*
“Well-written, carefully researched, and compelling scholarship. A
dramatic read.”
*New York Journal of Books*
“Once again, Michael Kazin has written a book about the past that
forces us to take another look at our present. War Against War, the
story of the activists who opposed American entry into World War I,
is a gem of historical analysis. Eloquently written, powerfully
argued, fully documented, it introduces us to a remarkable and
remarkably diverse cast of American characters and compels us to
re-examine the most fundamental of questions: when is a war worth
fighting?”
*David Nasaw, bestselling author of The Patriarch*
“In this penetrating account of the women and men of a century ago,
whom he calls the ‘anti-warriors,’ Michael Kazin brings off a
skillful double play. First, he resurrects the memory of this
varied and not so little band of sisters and brothers with both
sympathy and critical detachment. Second, he illuminates attitudes
and arguments that persist in underpinning and resisting America's
‘great power’ outreach. Anyone who cares about this country's role
in the world should read this book.”
*John Milton Cooper, Jr., author of Woodrow Wilson: A
Biography*
“Kazin...brings a fascinating perspective.”
*Los Angeles Times*
“War Against War is a magnificent book that gives opponents of
American involvement in World War I, one of the most profoundly
destructive conflicts in human history, their due. In elegant and
engaging prose, Michael Kazin tells a story about politics,
morality, social forces and a fascinating cast of personalities
with power and clarity. This is a very important book, at once
sobering and inspiring.”
*E. J. Dionne, Jr., bestselling author of Why the Right Went
Wrong*
“Kazin ends War Against War with a salute to those who search for
peace. He deserves praise for portraying that quest with clear-eyed
honesty and rigor. Maybe that kind of clarity could help keep us
out of wars to come.”
*Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*
“An astute account of the United States’ futile struggle to stay
out of WWI.... Kazin’s War Against War confirms his stature as one
of the most astute historians of American 19th- and 20th-century
social movements.”
*Washington Independent Review of Books*
“An important story.... War Against War offers much to reflect
upon.”
*American Conservative*
“Tightly written.”
*Dallas Morning News*
“War against War’s great strength is in laying out the pitfalls and
fractures the pacifist movement confronted... while showing how it
created a strong enough base, and a powerful enough critique, to
push back against U.S. entry for three years.”
*In These Times*
“Illuminating.... [Kazin] presents all parties fairly in this
well-researched, carefully written work.”
*Kirkus Reviews*
“[Kazin] expertly conveys the complex and electric prewar political
landscape, and the constellation of reasons that many Democrats,
Republicans, Socialists, farmers, feminists, left-wing trade
unionists, segregationists and liberal immigrants had for banding
together in this common cause, and then for breaking apart
again.”
*Shelf Awareness*
“Passionate.... [Kazin] pays eloquent tribute to a diverse
coalition of peace activists.”
*Booklist*
"Smoothly written and solidly researched... Kazin's book fills in
gaps of knowledge surrounding the peace movement that took place
prior to the Vietnam War, offering an excellent introduction to
domestic politics during World War I."
*Library Journal*
“[Kazin] brings a fascinating perspective to the war that is still
known as the Great War [and] convincingly argues that the U.S.
decision to join the Allies was a turning point in history, and one
that still reverberates today.”
*National Book Review*
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