A Force upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate ; With a New Foreword by the Author

by Kenneth S. Stern

Discusses the rise of private armies, or militias, of right-wing extremists in the United States, their motivations and beliefs, and the implications for the American social order.

Genres: Politics, The United States Of America, Sociology, History, Current Affairs, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 1996

About the author

Kenneth S. Stern is the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. An attorney and award-winning author, he was the American Jewish Committee's expert on antisemitism for 25 years. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before Congress (as well as before committees of parliamentarians in Canada and the U.K.), was an invited presenter at the White House Conference on Hate Crimes, served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Stockholm Forum on Combating Intolerance, and was a part of the defense team supporting Dr. Deborah Lipstadt in her historic London Holocaust denial trial. Stern was also trial and appellate counsel for American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks. Mr. Stern's op-eds and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Guardian, the Forward and elsewhere. Mr. Stern has appeared on the CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, Dateline, Nightline, Face the Nation, the History Channel, NPR, and many other television and radio programs. He was also the lead drafter of the "working definition" of antisemitism.

Reviews

[Sean Patrix · Rating 3 out of 5]

• A Force Upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate. By Kenneth S. Stern. An oldie from 1996, written after Waco. Feels like it was written quickly but gives a decent overview of the extreme American right in that era. Decent.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the militia movement. It's hard for me to find a non fiction book that I couldn't put down but this was one of them.

[Dave/Maggie Bean · Rating 1 out of 5]

An exercise in absurdity: Ludicrous, paranoid, tinfoil-hat conspiracy bullshit. In terms of dishonesty and fear-mongering, AFUTP is on par with Fox News. Not worth the paper it's printed on.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my articles is cited in the index.