American Radicals

Complementing the biographies of better known nineteenth-century Americans, this audiobook provides an enlightening history of radical thinkers, activists, and firebrands who promoted everything from free love to sexual abstinence, boycotts of slave labor goods, even veganism. Narrator January LaVoy, who speaks with an appealing combination of authority and clarity, imbues these remarkable stories with her usual energy. While many of the names mentioned have been forgotten, some, like John Brown and Susan B. Anthony, remain in currency. And while their efforts were often unsuccessful in their time, the author argues that shorter workdays, civil rights, women's suffrage, and socialism have their roots in those efforts to create "a different and better world." This is both educational and entertaining listening. L.W.S. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine