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A Resistance History of the United States
Revisit the Salem Witch Trials, the Underground Railroad, and other resistance movements of American history to get a bold new understanding of how resistance shaped our past—and how its principles can change our future.
The United States was shaped by resistance—but not in the way we’ve been taught. The Revolution did not secure liberty; it opened the door to either liberty or oppression, where only white men enjoyed all of the benefits and protections of citizenship.
In A Resistance History of the United States, public historian Tad Stoermer shows how from the very beginning, that tension—between the ideals of resistance and the realities of power—has defined America more than the Enlightenment ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Utililizing powerful storytelling to focus on key—and often lesser-known—moments in American history, this book reveals the truth of how resistance movements from Colonial times have opposed the powers that be. Stoermer covers an impressive roster of pivotal movements, with each chapter identifying a key resistance movement and principle meant to inspire contemporary readers,
Bacon’s Rebellion/Metacomet’s War (1676)Salem Witch Trials (1692)The Black Loyalists (1783)The Underground Railroad (1850)
Through these and many more examples, Stoermer dismantles the mythologies that pass for American history—exposing the curated nostalgia, moral evasions, and institutional silences that have long protected abusive power. What emerges is an essential look at how we can take lessons from the past to understand, and effectively respond to, the injustices we face today.
The United States was shaped by resistance—but not in the way we’ve been taught. The Revolution did not secure liberty; it opened the door to either liberty or oppression, where only white men enjoyed all of the benefits and protections of citizenship.
In A Resistance History of the United States, public historian Tad Stoermer shows how from the very beginning, that tension—between the ideals of resistance and the realities of power—has defined America more than the Enlightenment ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Utililizing powerful storytelling to focus on key—and often lesser-known—moments in American history, this book reveals the truth of how resistance movements from Colonial times have opposed the powers that be. Stoermer covers an impressive roster of pivotal movements, with each chapter identifying a key resistance movement and principle meant to inspire contemporary readers,
Bacon’s Rebellion/Metacomet’s War (1676)Salem Witch Trials (1692)The Black Loyalists (1783)The Underground Railroad (1850)
Through these and many more examples, Stoermer dismantles the mythologies that pass for American history—exposing the curated nostalgia, moral evasions, and institutional silences that have long protected abusive power. What emerges is an essential look at how we can take lessons from the past to understand, and effectively respond to, the injustices we face today.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 9, 2026
5 stars
If I could give this book six stars I would. I did not rate this book five stars because it was entertaining or for fun facts, but because of the important events included and while some seem small and even irrelevant at the time, but how the author used them to iterate what the United States was built on a foundation of morals and values for the people and how resistance and fighting corruptions of government was what our country was founded on. Some stories included may seem small while others have great sacrifice, but all play a part in history. While that was all fascinating and impactful in itself, how it relates to the current social, political and economic climate is just as equally as important. I think that individuals who are looking for information, politics, history, and are concerned with our current and previous administrations would benefit from reading this book. Not only does it remind and inform us of the past but how it relates to our present. The writing was nicely paced, easy to follow without feeling like info dumped on. I highly recommend
I received an advanced ebook, via Netagelly. This review is my own honest opinion.
Did Not Finish
April 2, 2026DNF. This felt more like an academic paper than anything else. I didn't get far. 🤷♀️
June 20, 2026
Eén ster eraf omdat er geen voet- of eindnoten zijn, geen bibliografie, geen 'further reading' of iets dergelijks. Het mag dan wel een boek zijn die voor een breed publiek geschreven is, maar het moet ook controleerbaar zijn.
Overigens een fantastisch boek waar ik ontzettend veel van geleerd heb, en natuurlijk ongelooflijk relevant voor nu. Leest heel vlot en zet de lezer actief tot nadenken - een absolute aanrader.
De grootste inhoudelijke spanning die ik had opgemerkt is de eeuwige discussie tussen reform en revolutie in de laatste twee hoofdstukken. In het één na laatste hoofdstuk over John Brown's aanval op Harper's Ferry werd er een héél duidelijk onderscheid gemaakt tussen de 'puren' - John Brown en the Six (en zelfs dan eigenlijk alleen maar twee leden van die Six) - en de rest die als moreel laf worden neergezet omdat ze niet genoeg steun aan John Brown gaven. Met name radicale politici als Charles Sumner worden verweten dat zij naïef zijn om te geloven dat de Slavenmacht via het Congres vernietigd kon worden, terwijl het hele systeem tot de bot verrot was en reform niet mogelijk was. Dat is tot op zekere hoogte ook allemaal waar: het probleem is dat de auteur hier niet consequent mee is. Terwijl de Radicalen in dit hoofdstuk worden weggezet als de belichaming van de beperkingen van reform, worden zij in het laatste hoofdstuk neergezet als de revolutionairen van het eerste uur die strijd leverden om het gehele Amerikaanse stelsel te transformeren - wat vervolgens tot een overwinning voor revolutie in plaats van reform wordt gerekend. Het moment was weliswaar revolutionair, maar de Radicalen waren nog steeds hervormers, ook toen ze soms buiten de wettelijke normen om hun hervorming doorpushten. Het komt neer op een miskenning en selectieve viering van grote hervormingsfiguren als Charles Sumner en Thaddeus Stevens vanuit de kant van revolutie - waar op zichzelf niets verkeerd mee is, mits het consequent wordt gedaan. Het heeft weinig zin om te waarschuwen voor het eeuwig lang wachten op ideologisch-pure bondgenoten waardoor niets uit de grond komt, en tegelijkertijd de bondgenoten die er wél zijn (Frederick Douglass, Sumner) bekritiseren omdat ze niet puur genoeg zijn. Dat creëert een onnodige en onproductieve - en vooral een frustrerende - breuk tussen grofweg "revo' s" en "refo's" met het risico op een averrechts effect, namelijk ontmoediging (uiteraard is dit altijd afhankelijk van de situatie; soms kan zo'n breuk terecht zijn als de verschillen onherenigbaar groot zijn). Toen de tijd aankwam, waren revo's uiteindelijk afhankelijk van refo's om de structurele hervormingen door te voeren tijdens Reconstructie. Punt is, je hebt altijd bondgenoten "on the inside" nodig en de drammers "on the outside", en het liefst werken ze nauw samen - zoals ze deden tijdens de Radicale Reconstructie. Het kan zeker het geval zijn dat ik hierin tekort kom aan kennis over het debat (in welk geval ik graag gecorrigeerd wil worden), maar naar mijn inzien zou het niet primair moeten gaan over of-of, maar en-en.
Tl;dr, lees dit boek!!!
Overigens een fantastisch boek waar ik ontzettend veel van geleerd heb, en natuurlijk ongelooflijk relevant voor nu. Leest heel vlot en zet de lezer actief tot nadenken - een absolute aanrader.
De grootste inhoudelijke spanning die ik had opgemerkt is de eeuwige discussie tussen reform en revolutie in de laatste twee hoofdstukken. In het één na laatste hoofdstuk over John Brown's aanval op Harper's Ferry werd er een héél duidelijk onderscheid gemaakt tussen de 'puren' - John Brown en the Six (en zelfs dan eigenlijk alleen maar twee leden van die Six) - en de rest die als moreel laf worden neergezet omdat ze niet genoeg steun aan John Brown gaven. Met name radicale politici als Charles Sumner worden verweten dat zij naïef zijn om te geloven dat de Slavenmacht via het Congres vernietigd kon worden, terwijl het hele systeem tot de bot verrot was en reform niet mogelijk was. Dat is tot op zekere hoogte ook allemaal waar: het probleem is dat de auteur hier niet consequent mee is. Terwijl de Radicalen in dit hoofdstuk worden weggezet als de belichaming van de beperkingen van reform, worden zij in het laatste hoofdstuk neergezet als de revolutionairen van het eerste uur die strijd leverden om het gehele Amerikaanse stelsel te transformeren - wat vervolgens tot een overwinning voor revolutie in plaats van reform wordt gerekend. Het moment was weliswaar revolutionair, maar de Radicalen waren nog steeds hervormers, ook toen ze soms buiten de wettelijke normen om hun hervorming doorpushten. Het komt neer op een miskenning en selectieve viering van grote hervormingsfiguren als Charles Sumner en Thaddeus Stevens vanuit de kant van revolutie - waar op zichzelf niets verkeerd mee is, mits het consequent wordt gedaan. Het heeft weinig zin om te waarschuwen voor het eeuwig lang wachten op ideologisch-pure bondgenoten waardoor niets uit de grond komt, en tegelijkertijd de bondgenoten die er wél zijn (Frederick Douglass, Sumner) bekritiseren omdat ze niet puur genoeg zijn. Dat creëert een onnodige en onproductieve - en vooral een frustrerende - breuk tussen grofweg "revo' s" en "refo's" met het risico op een averrechts effect, namelijk ontmoediging (uiteraard is dit altijd afhankelijk van de situatie; soms kan zo'n breuk terecht zijn als de verschillen onherenigbaar groot zijn). Toen de tijd aankwam, waren revo's uiteindelijk afhankelijk van refo's om de structurele hervormingen door te voeren tijdens Reconstructie. Punt is, je hebt altijd bondgenoten "on the inside" nodig en de drammers "on the outside", en het liefst werken ze nauw samen - zoals ze deden tijdens de Radicale Reconstructie. Het kan zeker het geval zijn dat ik hierin tekort kom aan kennis over het debat (in welk geval ik graag gecorrigeerd wil worden), maar naar mijn inzien zou het niet primair moeten gaan over of-of, maar en-en.
Tl;dr, lees dit boek!!!
June 26, 2026
25 June 2026:
My criticisms of A Resistance History of the United States are legion, but I’ll lead with the most salient: I strongly suspect that Stoermer used generative AI to produce at least large swaths of this book.
I didn’t arrive at this conclusion lightly; I’d read over 35% of the book before I trusted my instinct enough to begin documenting some of the passages I believe feature AI “tells.” I read hundreds of books a year (95 so far in 2026 alone) and have throughout my life; many of those books are contemporary nonfiction and contemporary literary fiction, so I’m familiar with a wide range of modern writing styles. No other published book has triggered this suspicion in me.
Throughout, the text evidences so many hallmark AI “tells”: overwhelmingly rampant contrastive negation (e.g., “That’s not x, it’s y,” where the “it’s not…” often isn’t even something one would reasonably infer based on the preceding sentence or paragraph); repetitive and unnecessary little summaries every page or so that often bely the complexities of the individuals or topics they purport to synopsize; triplet lists; wildly excessive and often bizarre emdash use (N.B.: I love the emdash and use it often myself; this reading experience is actually the first time I’ve understood why it’s become associated with AI “writing”); bland, sterile, unnaturally homogenous tone; formulaic structuring; short, often one-word “sentences” (fragments); endless missing antecedents; restatements of the same assertions using nearly identical words and phrases; etc.
I encourage readers of this review to peruse the highlights I’ve shared for some examples of the patterns I’m charting and to arrive at their own judgments. (My shared highlights represent only a fraction of the genAI language with which this book is overrun.)
Is it possible that Stoermer has simply consumed so much AI slop that he’s absorbed its linguistic tics to the extent that they’ve subsumed his own writing style? Perhaps, but this man is (I think) in his 40s or 50s. He holds a PhD, an achievement that would have required reading innumerable historical artifacts and scholarly texts spanning from US colonial times to the present. His website indicates that he obtained his PhD before generative AI existed for public consumption, so none of his academic accomplishments could have relied on it. He isn’t from Gen Alpha, someone for whom ChatGPT “writing” might be the only style he’s ever known.
I attempted to locate Stoermer’s scholarly work so I could compare his earlier writing to the writing in this book (with the obvious understanding that a history book written for the general population would differ in style from an article penned for an academic audience), but I was unable to find any such work. Nevertheless, the “evidence” of genAI language (as I personally assess it–I don’t and can’t have proof) is so extensive and so sustained throughout the text that it bears in me the weight of near-certainty.
And what kind of history book doesn’t include a bibliography or even works cited?! Well, probably one assembled by generative AI rather than years of scholarly toil in service of developing and delivering a well-supported thesis. Oh, and–coincidentally?--THIS history book.
I want to be wrong. Steerforth Press, an imprint of Pushkin Press and bearing some sort of Penguin Random House affiliation, published A Resistance History. I don’t want to believe that any publisher would finance and affix its name to a book “written” using generative AI. Unfortunately, my guess is that that’s exactly what happened, and I fear those of us who love reading and the human-crafted language their authors have wrestled onto the page will increasingly find that palpable, sometimes messy humanity absent from new book releases.
Even if my AI evaluation is erroneous, A Resistance History still isn’t a good book. If it’s organic, the writing is simply bad: maddeningly repetitive, sometimes nonsensical, exploding with fragments, marred by logical inconsistency. The text is bloodless except when its author is disparaging other historians (he harbors particular animus for Ken Burns and Jon Meacham).
If AI slop language will invade even entirely human-written work through a sort of gross linguistic osmosis, I’m thankful that books written before 2022 can sustain the rest of my reading life.
Stoermer’s central thesis is twofold: that the founding fathers and their work products have been mythologized in a manner at odds with their actual lives and beliefs, rendering them unworthy of their hallowed status in the American imagination (a largely correct but unoriginal take), and that “the system” (undefined) and the Constitution are currently, in 2026, working exactly as designed / as the founders intended. Neither the Constitution nor A Resistance History supports the latter claim (with regard to the Constitution–I can’t comment on the ambiguous “system” absent a specific meaning the book fails to provide). Yes, the founders intended that the original Constitution’s provisions would apply exclusively to wealthy (land-owning) white men (again, not at all a novel or even contested interpretation). However, Stoermer’s sweeping and unsupported assertion collapses because it cannot bear the weight of the the separation of powers clearly delineated in the source text. It’s frankly absurd to suggest that the Constitution’s authors would look approvingly on a United States in which the executive branch has fully usurped the legislative branch and partially captured the judicial branch, and that’s the state in which we find ourselves upon this book’s publication.
The book does not in fact present a history of the US; its last chapter centers around 1865, and its conclusion makes only fleeting references to eras since, which are of course abundant with resistance movements that warrant more than a superficial sentence or paragraph (if any mention at all) each.
(Stoermer dismisses movements like the 2017 Women’s March, the 2020 George Floyd protests, and efforts during Trump’s second term as achieving “no structural transformation” because they didn’t compel Constitutional amendments, and he devotes little to no space to civil rights, labor, LGBTQIA+, climate, etc. movements. In fact, he asserts that the last victory that mattered was the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.)
Because of the profligate filler language and overuse of repetition, even the history Stoermer does cover is ultimately quite thin.
Stoermer argues that only Constitutional amendments can secure real change, then a few pages later acknowledges that “the Supreme Court gutted the Fourteenth Amendment.” He claims that the Equal Rights Amendment and other protections that should have been constitutionally codified didn’t become law because Americans see the Constitution as perfect and inviolable and would revolt against amending it, which simply isn’t true. He attempts to dethrone one group of white men (the founding fathers) by centering other groups of mostly white men; even Stoermer’s hasty treatment of historical episodes featuring indigenous, Black, and female Americans’ resistance ends up focusing more on the white men peripheral to minorities’ sacrifices. Stoermer’s reverence for Thoreau, who seems more than any other person to embody the author’s vision of efficacious resistance, strikes me as odd: certainly Thoreau took real risks in service of his anti-slavery beliefs, but–apart from that single night in jail–he didn’t have to sacrifice even his comforts for the cause, whereas many others gave their lives. (Unsurprisingly, Stoermer makes no reference to the uncredited female labor that enabled those comforts or Thoreau’s part in perpetuating the very patriarchal and individualistic ideals that made resistance both necessary and so difficult to mount!)
I also can’t help but ask whether Stoermer himself has learned the lesson he aims to impart.
Stoermer tells his readers that breaking the pattern of impotent resistance “would require abandoning liberal nationalism’s faith that the system saves itself, that appeals to founding principles persuade authority to reform, that working within permitted channels produces transformation, that speeches matter.” The author repeatedly condemns nonviolent resistance that he sees as working within established systems of power as ineffective “moral suasion.” He seems to argue that violence is often necessary: “When all peaceful avenues have been closed and authority is already deploying violence systematically, resistance needs people who can accept what stopping that authority actually requires. Not philosophically justify violence, but accept that nothing is off the table when the choice is between making authority stop or accepting that it will continue.” When in our lifetimes have those conditions been more present than now, in 2026? Never. What is Stoermer, with all his straight, wealthy, white male privilege doing? Profiting from a book of moral suasion that merely “philosophically justif[ies] violence”; teaching “public history” as a lecturer in the Museum Studies MA program at an emblematically establishment institution where tuition costs $52,900-$53,000; and earning income from videos posted to Larry Ellison’s TikTok.
If speeches–words–don’t matter (and, to be clear, I do not myself concede that premise), what use is this book meant to serve? Whom does Stoermer expect to mount the type of resistance for which he calls, resistance he’d consider adequate? Clearly not himself.
In my view, this book is guilty of that with which Stoermer (or his AI tool of choice) charges what he calls liberal nationalist history: it’s “rhetoric that sounds profound until you ask what it means. It doesn’t say anything. It just asserts.”
21 June 2026:
Y'all, I'm at least 90% convinced this book was written by generative AI.
My criticisms of A Resistance History of the United States are legion, but I’ll lead with the most salient: I strongly suspect that Stoermer used generative AI to produce at least large swaths of this book.
I didn’t arrive at this conclusion lightly; I’d read over 35% of the book before I trusted my instinct enough to begin documenting some of the passages I believe feature AI “tells.” I read hundreds of books a year (95 so far in 2026 alone) and have throughout my life; many of those books are contemporary nonfiction and contemporary literary fiction, so I’m familiar with a wide range of modern writing styles. No other published book has triggered this suspicion in me.
Throughout, the text evidences so many hallmark AI “tells”: overwhelmingly rampant contrastive negation (e.g., “That’s not x, it’s y,” where the “it’s not…” often isn’t even something one would reasonably infer based on the preceding sentence or paragraph); repetitive and unnecessary little summaries every page or so that often bely the complexities of the individuals or topics they purport to synopsize; triplet lists; wildly excessive and often bizarre emdash use (N.B.: I love the emdash and use it often myself; this reading experience is actually the first time I’ve understood why it’s become associated with AI “writing”); bland, sterile, unnaturally homogenous tone; formulaic structuring; short, often one-word “sentences” (fragments); endless missing antecedents; restatements of the same assertions using nearly identical words and phrases; etc.
I encourage readers of this review to peruse the highlights I’ve shared for some examples of the patterns I’m charting and to arrive at their own judgments. (My shared highlights represent only a fraction of the genAI language with which this book is overrun.)
Is it possible that Stoermer has simply consumed so much AI slop that he’s absorbed its linguistic tics to the extent that they’ve subsumed his own writing style? Perhaps, but this man is (I think) in his 40s or 50s. He holds a PhD, an achievement that would have required reading innumerable historical artifacts and scholarly texts spanning from US colonial times to the present. His website indicates that he obtained his PhD before generative AI existed for public consumption, so none of his academic accomplishments could have relied on it. He isn’t from Gen Alpha, someone for whom ChatGPT “writing” might be the only style he’s ever known.
I attempted to locate Stoermer’s scholarly work so I could compare his earlier writing to the writing in this book (with the obvious understanding that a history book written for the general population would differ in style from an article penned for an academic audience), but I was unable to find any such work. Nevertheless, the “evidence” of genAI language (as I personally assess it–I don’t and can’t have proof) is so extensive and so sustained throughout the text that it bears in me the weight of near-certainty.
And what kind of history book doesn’t include a bibliography or even works cited?! Well, probably one assembled by generative AI rather than years of scholarly toil in service of developing and delivering a well-supported thesis. Oh, and–coincidentally?--THIS history book.
I want to be wrong. Steerforth Press, an imprint of Pushkin Press and bearing some sort of Penguin Random House affiliation, published A Resistance History. I don’t want to believe that any publisher would finance and affix its name to a book “written” using generative AI. Unfortunately, my guess is that that’s exactly what happened, and I fear those of us who love reading and the human-crafted language their authors have wrestled onto the page will increasingly find that palpable, sometimes messy humanity absent from new book releases.
Even if my AI evaluation is erroneous, A Resistance History still isn’t a good book. If it’s organic, the writing is simply bad: maddeningly repetitive, sometimes nonsensical, exploding with fragments, marred by logical inconsistency. The text is bloodless except when its author is disparaging other historians (he harbors particular animus for Ken Burns and Jon Meacham).
If AI slop language will invade even entirely human-written work through a sort of gross linguistic osmosis, I’m thankful that books written before 2022 can sustain the rest of my reading life.
Stoermer’s central thesis is twofold: that the founding fathers and their work products have been mythologized in a manner at odds with their actual lives and beliefs, rendering them unworthy of their hallowed status in the American imagination (a largely correct but unoriginal take), and that “the system” (undefined) and the Constitution are currently, in 2026, working exactly as designed / as the founders intended. Neither the Constitution nor A Resistance History supports the latter claim (with regard to the Constitution–I can’t comment on the ambiguous “system” absent a specific meaning the book fails to provide). Yes, the founders intended that the original Constitution’s provisions would apply exclusively to wealthy (land-owning) white men (again, not at all a novel or even contested interpretation). However, Stoermer’s sweeping and unsupported assertion collapses because it cannot bear the weight of the the separation of powers clearly delineated in the source text. It’s frankly absurd to suggest that the Constitution’s authors would look approvingly on a United States in which the executive branch has fully usurped the legislative branch and partially captured the judicial branch, and that’s the state in which we find ourselves upon this book’s publication.
The book does not in fact present a history of the US; its last chapter centers around 1865, and its conclusion makes only fleeting references to eras since, which are of course abundant with resistance movements that warrant more than a superficial sentence or paragraph (if any mention at all) each.
(Stoermer dismisses movements like the 2017 Women’s March, the 2020 George Floyd protests, and efforts during Trump’s second term as achieving “no structural transformation” because they didn’t compel Constitutional amendments, and he devotes little to no space to civil rights, labor, LGBTQIA+, climate, etc. movements. In fact, he asserts that the last victory that mattered was the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.)
Because of the profligate filler language and overuse of repetition, even the history Stoermer does cover is ultimately quite thin.
Stoermer argues that only Constitutional amendments can secure real change, then a few pages later acknowledges that “the Supreme Court gutted the Fourteenth Amendment.” He claims that the Equal Rights Amendment and other protections that should have been constitutionally codified didn’t become law because Americans see the Constitution as perfect and inviolable and would revolt against amending it, which simply isn’t true. He attempts to dethrone one group of white men (the founding fathers) by centering other groups of mostly white men; even Stoermer’s hasty treatment of historical episodes featuring indigenous, Black, and female Americans’ resistance ends up focusing more on the white men peripheral to minorities’ sacrifices. Stoermer’s reverence for Thoreau, who seems more than any other person to embody the author’s vision of efficacious resistance, strikes me as odd: certainly Thoreau took real risks in service of his anti-slavery beliefs, but–apart from that single night in jail–he didn’t have to sacrifice even his comforts for the cause, whereas many others gave their lives. (Unsurprisingly, Stoermer makes no reference to the uncredited female labor that enabled those comforts or Thoreau’s part in perpetuating the very patriarchal and individualistic ideals that made resistance both necessary and so difficult to mount!)
I also can’t help but ask whether Stoermer himself has learned the lesson he aims to impart.
Stoermer tells his readers that breaking the pattern of impotent resistance “would require abandoning liberal nationalism’s faith that the system saves itself, that appeals to founding principles persuade authority to reform, that working within permitted channels produces transformation, that speeches matter.” The author repeatedly condemns nonviolent resistance that he sees as working within established systems of power as ineffective “moral suasion.” He seems to argue that violence is often necessary: “When all peaceful avenues have been closed and authority is already deploying violence systematically, resistance needs people who can accept what stopping that authority actually requires. Not philosophically justify violence, but accept that nothing is off the table when the choice is between making authority stop or accepting that it will continue.” When in our lifetimes have those conditions been more present than now, in 2026? Never. What is Stoermer, with all his straight, wealthy, white male privilege doing? Profiting from a book of moral suasion that merely “philosophically justif[ies] violence”; teaching “public history” as a lecturer in the Museum Studies MA program at an emblematically establishment institution where tuition costs $52,900-$53,000; and earning income from videos posted to Larry Ellison’s TikTok.
If speeches–words–don’t matter (and, to be clear, I do not myself concede that premise), what use is this book meant to serve? Whom does Stoermer expect to mount the type of resistance for which he calls, resistance he’d consider adequate? Clearly not himself.
In my view, this book is guilty of that with which Stoermer (or his AI tool of choice) charges what he calls liberal nationalist history: it’s “rhetoric that sounds profound until you ask what it means. It doesn’t say anything. It just asserts.”
21 June 2026:
Y'all, I'm at least 90% convinced this book was written by generative AI.
June 18, 2026
I love reading a book that puts our current shared experiences into context.
When I look at the US, the liberal “opposition” and the constant appeals to the constitution and founders, it feels like I’m being sold beachfront property in Arizona. Something just isn’t right and we’re being duped. This book explains that.
I’m big on bashing American exceptionalism and our founding mythology. That being said, there was legitimate resistance to abusive authority that sparked the revolution. Unfortunately, that revolutionary energy was co-opted by wealthy Southern enslavers and used to distort the initial ideas of liberty.
The constitution was written to protect the white, “property”-owning male minority from the majority, effectively nullifying participatory democracy. The current admin is simply reinstating that hierarchy. Our system is built on a rotten foundation, which will only continue to rot unless forced to change.
Without touching on Marxism or economic alternatives (socialism, communism, etc), the author does a great job of applying historical materialism to American history. Those that preach and revere the ideals of liberty, freedom, and patriotism without changing the system are putting lipstick on a pig (Biden, Obama, Clinton to name a few).
Walked away from this more interested in US history and more secure in my distaste for our system. Shoutout the Black loyalists, John Brown, Metacomet, and Ona Judge.
When I look at the US, the liberal “opposition” and the constant appeals to the constitution and founders, it feels like I’m being sold beachfront property in Arizona. Something just isn’t right and we’re being duped. This book explains that.
I’m big on bashing American exceptionalism and our founding mythology. That being said, there was legitimate resistance to abusive authority that sparked the revolution. Unfortunately, that revolutionary energy was co-opted by wealthy Southern enslavers and used to distort the initial ideas of liberty.
The constitution was written to protect the white, “property”-owning male minority from the majority, effectively nullifying participatory democracy. The current admin is simply reinstating that hierarchy. Our system is built on a rotten foundation, which will only continue to rot unless forced to change.
Without touching on Marxism or economic alternatives (socialism, communism, etc), the author does a great job of applying historical materialism to American history. Those that preach and revere the ideals of liberty, freedom, and patriotism without changing the system are putting lipstick on a pig (Biden, Obama, Clinton to name a few).
Walked away from this more interested in US history and more secure in my distaste for our system. Shoutout the Black loyalists, John Brown, Metacomet, and Ona Judge.
June 25, 2026
I’ve been waiting months to read this book and was glad when I got my copy the day it came out. Tad does a great job of telling history without it sounding dry. I loved learning about Thaddeus Steven’s and the Six who were involved in John Browns rebellion (also, I feel the need to say “Ona Judge” from now on when anyone starts invoking Washington’s name with reverence). The constitution was not created to give us full freedom and liberties, it was created to maintain the status quo, to protect slavery, to cushion institutions that resistance efforts tried to shock. I’m listening to “Born Equal” simultaneously to reading this book and it has been wild to learn about enslaved people counting as 3/5 (I was taught that it was immoral that they were counted as a partial soul, but the real reason why the enslaved were 3/5 a person was so that slave owners could count enslaved as people on ballots who never got to vote. To think that John Adams could’ve had a second term and beat Jefferson (who won because of the vast amounts of enslaved people included on the voter roll) is mind boggling).
June 18, 2026
Excellent! Like a whole US history specialty semester (maybe 2?) in a book. Professor Stoermer narrates the audiobook...so even more, you feel as if you're sitting in his classroom. Stories upon stories not commonly taught in US classrooms with loads of examples and explanations of resistance that hooks you early and keeps you late.
"...when the student is ready, the teacher appears." Perfect timing, I think.
"...when the student is ready, the teacher appears." Perfect timing, I think.
June 22, 2026
repetitive and exhausting w/ the rhetorically-meandering pace of each story. get to the Fn point and move tf on, damn.... But the info is clutch, worth the effort to stay engaged
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Just when you thought you knew enough American history that you could converse at cocktail parties or to argue astutely, albeit politely, around the Thanksgiving dinner table along comes a book like this. I’ve got news for you. I thought I knew some American history until I read this, and now I must count myself truly ignorant and start relearning things in order to make the history—the Resistance History—matter in today’s context. Otherwise, it just won’t matter much at all.
First about the author. Tad Stoermer is a widely recognized public historian and lecturer in Colonial History, having earned his PhD from the University of Virginia. He also earned fellowships from Harvard, Brown, Yale, and Monticello. He teaches Public History at Johns Hopkins, and is also a Visiting Scholar at the University of Southern Denmark, where he and his family spend some of their time besides Cape Cod. Prior to his writing and academic pursuits, Professor Stoermer was an Army Reconnaissance Scout, and worked in the Democratic political arena.
To those of you who will have the privilege of reading this book when it comes out, please trust me when I tell you that the history you thought you knew well, that your kids perhaps, are getting taught in detail in school—perhaps in college—well, they’re not. And certainly not in any useful detail.
History was, and was always meant to be, a tool for us to use for our benefit in whatever time we’re in and that is what Tad Stoermer has done to great effect with A Resistance History of the United States.
Starting with the first “power plays” between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts and the indigenous tribes that greeted them in the 1620s, headed by the Wampanoag tribe and their sachem Metacomet (aka King Phillip, familiarly to the English) Stoermer begins with the largest war of the 17th century that resulted in the near erasure of the indigenous tribes from New England by the end of that century.
And you thought the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower just for freedom of religion. King Phillip’s War, as it became known, lasted nearly three years from 1675 to 1678, and ended with Metacomet’s killing in Rhode Island. Thousands of indigenous tribes’ members were vanquished from New England as a result of the war, and many died by disease, and in combat against the British. This pattern of engagement would continue for the next 150 years.
And this is just the beginning of a long, bigoted history of oppression dressed up as patriotic and religious mythology that most of us grew up with from kindergarten through high school. Perhaps even further in college history classes.
This pattern continues in time and geography down to the Jamestown Settlement of Virginia where Nathaniel Bacon was cooking up a grievance filled power grab of his own. Bacon had his own issues with indigenous tribes in his area, and was quite bigoted as one might imagine, The Governor of the colony, a much more temperate man named William Berkeley would have nothing to do with vanquishing the tribes as Bacon demanded, and a rebellion ensued. The rebellion resulted in Bacon’s execution, and Berkeley’s recall to England.
One of the great and connecting themes of this Resistance History is that for every Colonial American lesson, there is at least one useful tool for modern “resisters” to use today in the battle against oppressive powers that will, without hesitation, use that power to build further to define itself however it wishes, using the most monstrous narratives that civilized society would otherwise find repugnant.
Don’t be alarmed at this bit of time travel! There are great lessons to be taken from over 350 years of rebellious behavior, good and bad, that deserve attention whether one is just reading for strictly educational purposes or, as many who victims of the American slave trade at the hands of mythical luminaries like James Madison, George Washington, and others who had a hand in the drafting of our republic’s original Constitution.
The Underground Railroad, for example was a brilliant and long lasting instrument used to get thousands of slaves to Canada using one the best intelligence networks ever devised. Historians today don’t have all the details on how the network operated.
Going back in time to the Salem Witch Trials of the 1960s where oppressive power was beaten with the truth of the declared innocence of the accused women, who carried that truth to the gallows with them in order to defeat the oppression of the powerful men who sat in judgment of them.
From the use of slaves and indentured servants in the American Revolution, the constitutional compromises that left slavery in place until after the Civil War (Hint: Lincoln favored leaving it alone to preserve the republic) the lessons are detailed, and filled with blueprints of how historically successful resistance movements operated, as well as unsuccessful movements failed. Included are the characteristics of the people that make up both, with detailed examples throughout time.
Tad Stoermer’s A Resistance History of the United States is a master class of methodology in detail, and not just another history easily obtained anywhere. It is powerfully useful, and demands the reader follow the evidence toward the logical—not always comfortable—conclusion.
I highly recommend A Resistance History of the United States to the student of history, as well as any serious student on the current goings on in the world, obtain this book as soon as it becomes available, and derive the important lessons that will be taken from it, and used if willing.
First about the author. Tad Stoermer is a widely recognized public historian and lecturer in Colonial History, having earned his PhD from the University of Virginia. He also earned fellowships from Harvard, Brown, Yale, and Monticello. He teaches Public History at Johns Hopkins, and is also a Visiting Scholar at the University of Southern Denmark, where he and his family spend some of their time besides Cape Cod. Prior to his writing and academic pursuits, Professor Stoermer was an Army Reconnaissance Scout, and worked in the Democratic political arena.
To those of you who will have the privilege of reading this book when it comes out, please trust me when I tell you that the history you thought you knew well, that your kids perhaps, are getting taught in detail in school—perhaps in college—well, they’re not. And certainly not in any useful detail.
History was, and was always meant to be, a tool for us to use for our benefit in whatever time we’re in and that is what Tad Stoermer has done to great effect with A Resistance History of the United States.
Starting with the first “power plays” between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts and the indigenous tribes that greeted them in the 1620s, headed by the Wampanoag tribe and their sachem Metacomet (aka King Phillip, familiarly to the English) Stoermer begins with the largest war of the 17th century that resulted in the near erasure of the indigenous tribes from New England by the end of that century.
And you thought the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower just for freedom of religion. King Phillip’s War, as it became known, lasted nearly three years from 1675 to 1678, and ended with Metacomet’s killing in Rhode Island. Thousands of indigenous tribes’ members were vanquished from New England as a result of the war, and many died by disease, and in combat against the British. This pattern of engagement would continue for the next 150 years.
And this is just the beginning of a long, bigoted history of oppression dressed up as patriotic and religious mythology that most of us grew up with from kindergarten through high school. Perhaps even further in college history classes.
This pattern continues in time and geography down to the Jamestown Settlement of Virginia where Nathaniel Bacon was cooking up a grievance filled power grab of his own. Bacon had his own issues with indigenous tribes in his area, and was quite bigoted as one might imagine, The Governor of the colony, a much more temperate man named William Berkeley would have nothing to do with vanquishing the tribes as Bacon demanded, and a rebellion ensued. The rebellion resulted in Bacon’s execution, and Berkeley’s recall to England.
One of the great and connecting themes of this Resistance History is that for every Colonial American lesson, there is at least one useful tool for modern “resisters” to use today in the battle against oppressive powers that will, without hesitation, use that power to build further to define itself however it wishes, using the most monstrous narratives that civilized society would otherwise find repugnant.
Don’t be alarmed at this bit of time travel! There are great lessons to be taken from over 350 years of rebellious behavior, good and bad, that deserve attention whether one is just reading for strictly educational purposes or, as many who victims of the American slave trade at the hands of mythical luminaries like James Madison, George Washington, and others who had a hand in the drafting of our republic’s original Constitution.
The Underground Railroad, for example was a brilliant and long lasting instrument used to get thousands of slaves to Canada using one the best intelligence networks ever devised. Historians today don’t have all the details on how the network operated.
Going back in time to the Salem Witch Trials of the 1960s where oppressive power was beaten with the truth of the declared innocence of the accused women, who carried that truth to the gallows with them in order to defeat the oppression of the powerful men who sat in judgment of them.
From the use of slaves and indentured servants in the American Revolution, the constitutional compromises that left slavery in place until after the Civil War (Hint: Lincoln favored leaving it alone to preserve the republic) the lessons are detailed, and filled with blueprints of how historically successful resistance movements operated, as well as unsuccessful movements failed. Included are the characteristics of the people that make up both, with detailed examples throughout time.
Tad Stoermer’s A Resistance History of the United States is a master class of methodology in detail, and not just another history easily obtained anywhere. It is powerfully useful, and demands the reader follow the evidence toward the logical—not always comfortable—conclusion.
I highly recommend A Resistance History of the United States to the student of history, as well as any serious student on the current goings on in the world, obtain this book as soon as it becomes available, and derive the important lessons that will be taken from it, and used if willing.
June 22, 2026
A Resistance History of the United States presents a bold and thought-provoking reinterpretation of American history through the lens of resistance movements and social struggle. Tad Stoermer offers readers a compelling narrative that challenges traditional historical narratives while encouraging a deeper examination of power, inequality, and collective action across centuries.
One of the most striking strengths of this work is its central argument: that resistance, rather than passive acceptance of founding ideals, has been a defining force in shaping the United States. By reframing well-known historical events alongside lesser-known episodes, the book encourages readers to reconsider how American history is traditionally taught and understood.
The inclusion of events such as Bacon’s Rebellion, the witch trials, the experiences of Black Loyalists, and the Underground Railroad provides a wide historical scope that illustrates the long-standing tension between authority and resistance. These case studies help demonstrate how marginalized groups and dissenting voices have continually challenged systems of power throughout American history.
What makes the book particularly engaging is its ability to connect historical analysis with broader questions about justice, memory, and interpretation. Rather than presenting history as a fixed narrative, it emphasizes the contested nature of historical truth and the ways in which dominant narratives can obscure important perspectives.
The storytelling approach is accessible and engaging, making complex historical themes understandable for a broad audience while still maintaining intellectual depth. This balance allows the book to appeal to both general readers and those with a more academic interest in American history and social movements.
One of the most striking strengths of this work is its central argument: that resistance, rather than passive acceptance of founding ideals, has been a defining force in shaping the United States. By reframing well-known historical events alongside lesser-known episodes, the book encourages readers to reconsider how American history is traditionally taught and understood.
The inclusion of events such as Bacon’s Rebellion, the witch trials, the experiences of Black Loyalists, and the Underground Railroad provides a wide historical scope that illustrates the long-standing tension between authority and resistance. These case studies help demonstrate how marginalized groups and dissenting voices have continually challenged systems of power throughout American history.
What makes the book particularly engaging is its ability to connect historical analysis with broader questions about justice, memory, and interpretation. Rather than presenting history as a fixed narrative, it emphasizes the contested nature of historical truth and the ways in which dominant narratives can obscure important perspectives.
The storytelling approach is accessible and engaging, making complex historical themes understandable for a broad audience while still maintaining intellectual depth. This balance allows the book to appeal to both general readers and those with a more academic interest in American history and social movements.
June 3, 2026
As someone who spent the first 20 years of my life in the USA, I realised once I finished school that most of American history was curated to suit a specific narrative. I'm always up for learning the REAL history of the USA and not the polished version published in the Maxwell produced textbooks.
This one is laid out quite well in that he provides a quick introduction and some semblance of hope in the conclusion of the book (if you are worried about where America is currently going).
There's mentions of history that most people know and the stories behind it such as the Salem witch trial, Tea Party, revolutionaries, slave trade, George Washington etc.
It's nice hearing that there were some people back then who tried to prevent the witch trials. Because let's face it - they burned women, not witches.
And boy does this book make me hate George Washington even more. What a complete asshole he is. I wish I could go back to my primary school history class and say something bad about him or spit on his grave at Mt Vernon when all 8th graders had to visit.
The author describes the American way of resistance and as much as I want Americans to be more like the French in their resistance, he does outline some ways that American resistance works.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
This one is laid out quite well in that he provides a quick introduction and some semblance of hope in the conclusion of the book (if you are worried about where America is currently going).
There's mentions of history that most people know and the stories behind it such as the Salem witch trial, Tea Party, revolutionaries, slave trade, George Washington etc.
It's nice hearing that there were some people back then who tried to prevent the witch trials. Because let's face it - they burned women, not witches.
And boy does this book make me hate George Washington even more. What a complete asshole he is. I wish I could go back to my primary school history class and say something bad about him or spit on his grave at Mt Vernon when all 8th graders had to visit.
The author describes the American way of resistance and as much as I want Americans to be more like the French in their resistance, he does outline some ways that American resistance works.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I first followed Tad Stoermer on Tick Tok a year or so ago and found what he shared really informative. He has a style of explaining things so thoroughly and with a critical lens. His book, A Resistance History of the United States comes across in that exact same manner. From the first chapter I was hooked and couldn’t stop sharing information with my family. Tad Stoermer’s perspective is that people resist in a multiple of ways in order to achieve change. It is no accident that authoritarian tendencies are able to appear throughout the history of the United States, our Constitution is written to allow it. Each chapter takes on a different event in history that he then spends time shedding a new light on how it actually happened and why it happened but also why we were told or taught a different narrative of the event. I felt like I was in class with Tad Stoermer while he walked me through how to critically approach the subject matter along with what resistance took place.
Tad Stoermer’s storytelling is amazing and really holds your attention. The writing was exactly like he comes across in his short videos. I highly recommend this book for anyone high school age and older.
Thank you, Tad Stoermer, Steerforth & Pushkin for providing this eARC via NetGalley for review.
Tad Stoermer’s storytelling is amazing and really holds your attention. The writing was exactly like he comes across in his short videos. I highly recommend this book for anyone high school age and older.
Thank you, Tad Stoermer, Steerforth & Pushkin for providing this eARC via NetGalley for review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you NetGalley and Duckworth & Pushkin Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting read, but I needed time to sit with it. It's not overly academic, but it definitely makes you think. This book reframes U.S. history through the lens of resistance instead of the usual patriotic "we were always destined for greatness" narrative. What really stood out was how Stoermer centers people and movements that usually get pushed to the footnotes: Bacon's Rebellion, Metacomet's War, the Salem Witch Trials, Black Loyalists, the Underground Railroad, and more. Each chapter tells the story in a vivid way that shows not just what happened, but how those strategies and sacrifices still show up in today's struggles. I appreciated that the book doesn't give you a feel-good ending. It dismantles the comforting myths we've been told and shows how resistance has always forced power to bend, usually at enormous personal cost. That honesty hit hard. As a correction to the version of history most of us were taught, and as a way to think about activism today, it's smart, bracing, and absolutely worth your time.
This was an interesting read, but I needed time to sit with it. It's not overly academic, but it definitely makes you think. This book reframes U.S. history through the lens of resistance instead of the usual patriotic "we were always destined for greatness" narrative. What really stood out was how Stoermer centers people and movements that usually get pushed to the footnotes: Bacon's Rebellion, Metacomet's War, the Salem Witch Trials, Black Loyalists, the Underground Railroad, and more. Each chapter tells the story in a vivid way that shows not just what happened, but how those strategies and sacrifices still show up in today's struggles. I appreciated that the book doesn't give you a feel-good ending. It dismantles the comforting myths we've been told and shows how resistance has always forced power to bend, usually at enormous personal cost. That honesty hit hard. As a correction to the version of history most of us were taught, and as a way to think about activism today, it's smart, bracing, and absolutely worth your time.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I find Stoermer's TikTok videos so captivating, so when I saw his new nonfiction book on Resistance History available on NetGalley I knew I really wanted to read it. As I was reading, I imagined the author narrating it to me and it actually was quite fascinating.
Resistance has always been a part of history where any sort of power is present. It was interesting to read about the different events Stoermer chose to highlight. He relayed what happened in each case and showed how to recognize patterns of how the resistance started, what countered it, and what the outcome was. I thought it was a great glimpse into lesser talked about resistance movements and the reason why most of them failed.
Stoermer does a great job relaying the facts. It does get presented in a more academic narrative so I did have to read a section at a time. That structure is not my type of narrative that I typical like to read but I do think it worked for this topic and I definitely came out with more knowledge on the subject than I had going in.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Steerforth & Pushkin for the advanced reader copy. The above review is 100% my own honest opinion.
Resistance has always been a part of history where any sort of power is present. It was interesting to read about the different events Stoermer chose to highlight. He relayed what happened in each case and showed how to recognize patterns of how the resistance started, what countered it, and what the outcome was. I thought it was a great glimpse into lesser talked about resistance movements and the reason why most of them failed.
Stoermer does a great job relaying the facts. It does get presented in a more academic narrative so I did have to read a section at a time. That structure is not my type of narrative that I typical like to read but I do think it worked for this topic and I definitely came out with more knowledge on the subject than I had going in.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Steerforth & Pushkin for the advanced reader copy. The above review is 100% my own honest opinion.
May 31, 2026
A Resistance History of the United States by Tad Stoermer is not a comfortable read. It’s an important book, especially in light of our current political state, but did come across a little too sterile at times for me.
The books premise is that throughout our history, people forced change by disrupting the system, may have succeeded, but those successes were wiped away as American institutions evolved to undo or contain what was achieved. The book is largely focused on events from the colonial, revolutionary and civil war eras.
There’s no wrong time to read this book, but it does feel a bit more pointed when we’re weeks away from the federal governments celebration of 250 years of independence. It’s a timely reminder that much of what we were taught about our founding and those early years has been mythologized beyond reason and fact.
My thanks to NetGalley and Steerforth Press for the opportunity to review this advanced readers copy for an honest review.
The books premise is that throughout our history, people forced change by disrupting the system, may have succeeded, but those successes were wiped away as American institutions evolved to undo or contain what was achieved. The book is largely focused on events from the colonial, revolutionary and civil war eras.
There’s no wrong time to read this book, but it does feel a bit more pointed when we’re weeks away from the federal governments celebration of 250 years of independence. It’s a timely reminder that much of what we were taught about our founding and those early years has been mythologized beyond reason and fact.
My thanks to NetGalley and Steerforth Press for the opportunity to review this advanced readers copy for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a must-read book for anyone who wants to gain a greater understanding of the history of the United States. Tad Stoermer reviews several key events in US history that came to pass because to well-planned resistance activities. He also encourages the reader to dig deeper into historical events surrounding the pre-Civil War history of the the US and how a mythology has grown up around them, making it feel impossible to challenge politicians when they are doing wrong. This book serves as a call to action as well as an unmythologized look at what the US was and is, and how lasting change can come about.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A Resistance History of the United States is a good nonfiction book discussing resistance in America. While some reviews point out that it reads like an academic paper, I don't think this is a bad thing. When dealing with this level of information, it is going to sound a bit academic, in my opinion. The writing is clear and the author does a good job explaining everything in detail. I learned new details about a couple acts of resistance that I had not previous known. Stories of resistance are so important to share, and I think Tad Stoermer makes learning about them more accessible through their book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.25 stars
This was an excellent look at some of the ways in which resistance against corrupt, abusive authorities has shaped the United States of America. It also talks a great deal about what resistance really means. The writing was great, but it did feel very academic and dry. Even with the dry writing, I still found it to be highly interesting. It was packed full of information and facts and felt very well researched. My only real issue with this was how leading it felt. I felt like the author was pulling me towards an opinion instead of just presenting their argument and letting me arrive at the proper conclusion.
This was an excellent look at some of the ways in which resistance against corrupt, abusive authorities has shaped the United States of America. It also talks a great deal about what resistance really means. The writing was great, but it did feel very academic and dry. Even with the dry writing, I still found it to be highly interesting. It was packed full of information and facts and felt very well researched. My only real issue with this was how leading it felt. I felt like the author was pulling me towards an opinion instead of just presenting their argument and letting me arrive at the proper conclusion.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"American resistance to abusive authority achieved the greatest advances for liberty in the nation's history. Not through patience. Not through working within the system. Not through trust that the arc of history bends towards justice on its own. Through people who recognize that those holding power were abusing it, understood where and when permitted channels had failed, and forced change against institutions designed to prevent it. Every significant expansion of rights in American history came from resistance forcing authority to answer."
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Steerforth for the eARC; all opinions are my own.
This is a really intriguing perspective on US history. I loved Stoermer's knowledge and research. This is a pretty heady book, so may not be a straight-read-through for every reader. This may be better/equally enjoyed reading a chapter here and there. Don't get me wrong - the whole book is interesting and worth a ready, but it's a lot of info to digest.
I really appreciated the new angle on events I've heard of before.
This is a really intriguing perspective on US history. I loved Stoermer's knowledge and research. This is a pretty heady book, so may not be a straight-read-through for every reader. This may be better/equally enjoyed reading a chapter here and there. Don't get me wrong - the whole book is interesting and worth a ready, but it's a lot of info to digest.
I really appreciated the new angle on events I've heard of before.
June 10, 2026
Required reading. Stoermer's accessible reframing of US history in terms of the struggle against abusive authority could not be more timely! This perspective *must* become standard if we are to prevail against the rancid aims of our rulers. Stoermer presents a succinct heuristic of resistance that can unite our individual causes in the fight for a better future. Where some readers may ask for more issue-specific application, I am thankful for the work's focus on the overarching hows and whys of where we've ended up. The discrete goals of our struggle may differ, but our enemies are the same.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was a compelling, comprehensive, informative book telling the resistance history of the United States from its pre-revolutionary days through to Reconstruction. It does so by not just reciting what happened, but explaining how and why resistance worked, where it faltered, and what we can learn from it. This book serves both as a reminder and a call to action, especially in the times we are living in at present.
Did Not Finish
March 7, 2026Thank you Netgalley for the arc!
Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me at 15%.
I'm super sad that I didn't like this one, and who knows? Maybe it gets better later on.
I feel like the concept is solid, I was on board to read about resistance movements throughout US history, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
It kind of reads like a school essay, and I don't really feel anything behind the writing. Sort of a monotonous read, and felt like reading one long Wikipedia article, I'm sorry.
Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me at 15%.
I'm super sad that I didn't like this one, and who knows? Maybe it gets better later on.
I feel like the concept is solid, I was on board to read about resistance movements throughout US history, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
It kind of reads like a school essay, and I don't really feel anything behind the writing. Sort of a monotonous read, and felt like reading one long Wikipedia article, I'm sorry.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review! I'm very grateful!!
This book was incredibly informative, and I learned so much from it. The details, message, and writing were extremely well thought out. It seemed very fitting for this point in time, and I'm very glad I read it.
It was a bit boring at times, but that's expected and didn't detract a lot.
This book was incredibly informative, and I learned so much from it. The details, message, and writing were extremely well thought out. It seemed very fitting for this point in time, and I'm very glad I read it.
It was a bit boring at times, but that's expected and didn't detract a lot.
June 28, 2026
This is one of those books that felt incredibly informative and full of information I should have learned by now but just hadn't. I will say it got repetitive at times and was so adamant about the lessons you should learn by reading that I ended up taking off a star. I also wish it had been professionally narrated instead of read by the author. All that being said, this was a great lesson in history.
Read
February 11, 2026“In a system sustained by state-sponsored lies, the most fundamental act of resistance is the refusal to validate the falsehood. The simple, steadfast, and public assertion of truth, even at immense personal cost, is a direct assault on the legitimacy of abusive authority.”
A really interesting and accessible examination of resistance throughout history, feels very timely.
A really interesting and accessible examination of resistance throughout history, feels very timely.
June 21, 2026
I hesitate to call any book a “must read,” but this may be one. It’s not an easy read and the conclusions may require some reflection and hard thinking, but if we want to get to a truly better place as a nation, we’re going to have to embrace the uncomfortable. This book lays that out pretty clearly.
Did Not Finish
June 4, 2026I do want to come back to this i just think itll be a while before im ready to pick this up. My brain feels like mush and i feel like ive barely gotten anywhere. This book is incredibly well researched and written i just cant do a non fic rn
June 24, 2026
Breaking down the core pillars of resistance utilizing real examples from US History made for a powerful and thought-provoking read. A really excellent read for someone who enjoys US History without the sheen of American exceptionalism being the star of the show. Highly recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I love anything to do with resistance, so was absolutely sat for this. Was very interesting to read about the Underground Railroad in particular
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