3.5 stars. Definitely a fascinating and comprehensive history of the far left revolutionaries of the 60s and 70s. Would have been four stars but for the author's preoccupation with Bernardine Dohrn's cleavage and sex life and his occasionally snarky comments about the people involved, which undermines a historical account.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the Goodreads "First Reads" program.

Curious about the roots of today's anxiety-ridden, security-obsessed culture? You'll need to look farther back than 9/11 or even the Oklahoma City bombing to a time when urban unrest looked like a few sticks of dynamite wired to an alarm clock.

Growing up, I remember reading excerpts from Patty Hearst's memoir and wondering whether a reclusive neighbor was a Weather Underground fugitive (Who knows? He and the couple he lived with disappeared one night, leaving their yard and the interior of their house in a shambles.) But even I was shocked to learn how commonplace political bombings, robberies, and police-involved shootings truly were in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Bryan Burrough's Days of Rage is a tightly-written, compulsively readable history of this "forgotten age of revolutionary violence." If you've ever seen the River Phoenix movie "Running On Empty," you might be interested to know that the story was inspired by a real-life band of would-be revolutionaries who wired bombs and robbed banks while raising a total of nine children. Plane hijackings, shootings of police officers, robberies of banks and armored trucks--all of these were committed by young radicals in the name of eradicating racism and toppling the American government.

The one weakness this book has, and it is a glaring one, is how Burrough's own voice interrupts the narrative. He makes it clear in more than one place that he does not agree with the radicals' brand of politics, which is fine. But his arch asides too often take the reader out of the book and just aren't necessary. I think we as readers can all understand that reporting on crimes doesn't require a journalist to constantly distance himself from the perpetrators of said crimes.

Burrough was able to get several still-living radicals to tell their stories, some for the first time. If you are interested in reading about the history of the Weather Underground, the Symbionese Liberation Army, or any of the other radical actions of the 70s, this book is highly recommended.

Almost 3 stars. This book was way too long but it flowed well and read quite easily.


A malatov cocktail is not a bomb. There were so many real bombs during that time. Are there as many bombs today or do we just not hear about them? And what's the point of telling people when the bomb is going to go off? Why not just plant the bomb and sit back and wait. Idiots.

Malcolm x is so dumb. And his black Muslim brothers killed him. While he had a good idea to stop racism, his means didn't justify the ends. And he himself was very racist. No,he's not a martyr. He's just a moron.

The 60's and early 70's sounded like a crappy time to live. I'm sure people would say the same thing about today, yet things are great (and no it's not because of white privilege).

I never knew about the underground groups of the 70s, which is really interesting! The book was a little dry and overly detailed though.

Finally! I thought I would never finish this book. It was interesting and jam packed with information. Unfortunately, that's all it had going for it. It was a treasure trove of facts and timelines regarding radical groups in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, specifically their bombing campaigns. But there was no analysis, it was as if the author was afraid to delve more deeply into the issues, but I had the distinct impression that the thought that there was nothing deeper. He saved a few paragraphs to quote angry FBI agents and the son of one of the few people killed in the blasts that lambasted the groups with no response or counter to their opinions. This could have been a really great book, but instead it just fell flat.

I'm stopping this half-way through.

The author should have included a dedication. Dear Bill O'Reilly, I didn't pal around with terrorists. These aren't my politics. Love, Bryan.
Instead, he infused his writing with the same message. He distanced himself from the book's subjects by failing to fully humanize them and writing in moral judgments. I didn't need to be told when each group crossed a line or for for Burrough to act like a horrified father watching his daughter's first orgy. I understand that the people he interviewed are now much older, but does he need to write everything from the perspectives of disgust?

I also don't feel comfortable that Bernardette Dohrn is portrayed as a manic-militant-dream-girl. I would have preferred to learn more about a person than selected sexy stories recounted by men (and apparently women) who wanted to sleep with her.

On the bright side, it has a fantastic cover.

The story gets 5 stars, it's one of the most mind-blowing accounts I've ever read in the "shit they don't teach you in history class" genre. There's a lot to learn about the merits and pitfalls of revolutionary violence and urban guerilla tactics within the "belly of the capitalist beast" here. But it gets 1 star for the author's particular takes. First off, the descriptions of all the people are intensely creepy. Every woman is portrayed as "dazzlingly attractive" and as hopelessly enthralled with some other male revolutionary figure. The lack of agency given to them is just absolutely disgusting. And then, in general, Burrough is just a consummate boot-licker, unwilling to provide any context whatsoever for the grievances of the guerillas. For example, not a single word about the suffering of Puerto Ricans, an omission all the more galling given what we're seeing in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria right now. So, final score = (1+5)/2 = 3