<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: warning- severe right wing bias
Review: For those of you looking for an objective historical account of the R.A.F. or Weathermen this is definitely not the place to look. The book starts out well but, unfortunately the author's right-wing bias is soon apparent. Jeremy Varon is obviously someone who opposes the anti-capitalist/ anti-imperialist movement as a whole, and is consistently dismissive of the views of both groups. He also accuses the R.A.F. of anti-semitism, due to their solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. This is both offensive and inaccurate. Weathermen also expressed solidarity with the P.L.O. but seemingly because they are not German, they escape Varon's charges of anti-semitism. I bought this book as I am researching a thesis relating to the R.A.F. but I was sorely dissapointed by the unrelenting bias of this author's personal views. I would like others considering purchasing this book to be aware that it is a subjective, not historical account.
Rating: 
Summary: An Incredible Look Into the Heart of the Anti-War Movement
Review: I bought this book thinking it was a companion to the very good
documentary recently on PBS. Instead I found great detail and
incredible analysis of not just the Weathermen but driving forces
behind the anti-war movemnet. It is really an intelectual history of
the peak of the movement in the late sixties and early seventies.
Most will likely be suprised at the sophistication and
care to avoid physical harm, especially after the Townhouse
explosion. I susect that most of those againt the war at the time saw
the group as drug crazed idiots. The book proves this idea wrong.
But it objectively inspects all aspects of the Weathermen. There is an
interesting comparison to the German radicals, the RAF, who were
much more violent. It is so well researched and written that the roots
of 60's ideology may become apparent to some. I relived much of
my development as a student at that time. The mystique, emotion,
and strong intellectual base is well described. And its foolishness
is put in perspective rather than ridiculed. This is one of the best
books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Look Into the Heart of the Anti-War Movement
Review: I bought this book thinking it was a companion to the very good
documentary recently on PBS. Instead I found great detail and
incredible analysis of not just the Weathermen but driving forces
behind the anti-war movemnet. It is really an intelectual history of
the peak of the movement in the late sixties and early seventies.
Most will likely be suprised at the sophistication and
care to avoid physical harm, especially after the Townhouse
explosion. I susect that most of those againt the war at the time saw
the group as drug crazed idiots. The book proves this idea wrong.
But it objectively inspects all aspects of the Weathermen. There is an
interesting comparison to the German radicals, the RAF, who were
much more violent. It is so well researched and written that the roots
of 60's ideology may become apparent to some. I relived much of
my development as a student at that time. The mystique, emotion,
and strong intellectual base is well described. And its foolishness
is put in perspective rather than ridiculed. This is one of the best
books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: tremendous achievement
Review: In this well-researched, beautifully written book, Jeremy Varon explores the whole range of factors that gave rise to revolutionary rhetoric and practice in the 1960s and early 1970s, as well as the moral and existential dilemmas that lurk behind any question of political violence. I'm especially impressed by his multi-faceted approach to the material. To cite just a few examples: With his close reading of images and texts from the underground press, he does the work of a cultural historian; where he draws from pyschological models of trauma to help explain RAF's turn toward violence, his work is squarely within the realm of intellectual history; by unearthing a range of neglected sources and examining these groups "from the bottom up," his work takes on the flavor of a social historian; and I especially enjoyed his rich, narrative descriptions, which make the book such a pleasure to read. Finally, this difficult topic is everywhere explored with a keen moral integrity - and I certainly do not share one reviewer's suggestion that the author reveals any kind of right-wing bias! To the contrary, Varon remarks that this book was inspired by the same passion for justice that animated the new left itself. He seems sympathetic to the aims (if not the tactics) of many Sixties activists, and in his conclusion, he underscores the implications that this study has to to some of the most pressing exigencies of our time - terrorism and globalization. Of course, both Weatherman and the RAF come in for some strong criticisms, but ironically, the most damning testimony frequently comes from their former members. (This is especially true of RAF). All in all, this is a tremendous achievement -- an intelligent, rigorous, and elegantly written book that deserves a wide audience from scholars and activists alike.
Rating:
Summary: Very well written history
Review: Jeremy Varon's "Bringing the War Home" is a well-written and engaging account of the radical student movement in the United States and Germany during the 1960s.Varon outlines and explains why some anti-war and civil rights protestors moved from passive resistance to the state to outright acts of terrorist aggression. The author is particularly good at tracing the "development" of the ideologies radicals used to justify their violence, and at explaining the difference between US and German radicalism. Thankfully, "Bringing the War Home" is free of the post-modern jargon polluting much academic writing today, and thus is a joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing The War Home ~ An Eclectic Balance
Review: Jeremy Varon's "Bringing The War Home" is simply a "must read" for anyone who wishes to "understand" the '60's and '70's--the very concept of "revolution"--from the perspectives of the Weatherman/Weather Underground, the Red Army Fraction, AND the very governments and societies these groups sought to radically change. Both probing and honest, Varon's narrative and analysis is an important and eclectic cotribution to this critical and defining era. The relevance of this work to contemporary "war on terror" response is impossible to overstate. While a bit "pedantic" in parts--Varon's work is a long overdue illumination of that which defined not only a generation but an entire world. A real "keeper".
Rating:
Summary: A Balanced, Thoughtful Book on a Controversial Topic
Review: This is one of the best books you'll ever read on the Sixties or the movements that defined it. In examining one of the most controversial subjects to arise in that era - New Left revolutionary violence - Jeremy Varon not only gives us the first really serious examination of the Weather Underground (most often trashed by sixties activists-turned-scholars), but reveals so much more about the zeitgeist of the era - with all its promise and horror - by coupling it with an analysis of the Red Army Faction in Germany. I don't know how that other reviewer can say there's right-wing bias at work in the book when, in my reading, I see a difficult balancing act that seems to appreciate the utopian ideals of the New Left, takes seriously these radicals' intellectual journeys that led them to violence, but certainly doesn't defend the terrible things done to "bring the war home." It's really a thorough, nuanced book that, fortunately, is written so well, even non-experts will understand the complexities of the time.
I only bought this book after hearing the author speak about it at a book event in New York. Instead of a right-wing or left-wing slant, I heard someone straining to get it right; the reward is that the book does the same.
<< 1 >>
|
