VIGILANTE NATION | Kirkus Reviews

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</script> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Book", "name": "VIGILANTE NATION", "image": "https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/user-media/titles/title/cover/b0e115c48df0417baf5e02f173514b11/a2a3074a070d4a239e9edea094b36075.jpg.180x0_q85_autocrop.jpg", "url": "https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jon-michaels/vigilante-nation/", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jon Michaels" }, "datePublished": "Oct. 8th,2024", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "One Signal/Atria" }, "genre": "None", "isbn": "9781668023235", "review": { "@type": "Review", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kirkus Reviews" }, "reviewBody": "Law professors Michaels and Noll start off with a chilling quote from right\u002Dwing political strategist Steve Bannon, who offered his podcast listeners some advice: “You just have to impose your will.” He was urging his fans to resist the inauguration of Joe Biden as president\u003B that comment was broadcast on Jan. 5, 2021. Bannon, the authors argue, is in the vanguard of a new class of political vigilantes: ”loosely connected cadres of right\u002Dwing activists, lawyers, thugs, grifters, and plutocrats who rally around a twice impeached president and blame their problems—real and manufactured—on Democrats, minorities, foreigners, scientists, bureaucrats, and educators.” The authors trace the origins of what they call “Vigilante Democracy,” a system that recruits “citizen culture warriors” to uphold white Christian power, to right\u002Dwing media figures like Rush Limbaugh and politicians like Sarah Palin. They also discuss the right’s embrace of George Zimmerman, who gunned down an unarmed Black teenager in a gated Florida community, and Kyle Rittenhouse, who after an altercation shot and killed a protestor at a Wisconsin racial justice demonstration. Vigilante Democracy, Michaels and Noll write, “deploys lawyers, gunslingers, thugs, parent associations, snitches, podcasters, influencers, keyboard warriors, and QAnon trolls” to ban books, restrict abortion, and demonize transgender children. The remedy, the authors conclude, lies with blue states playing “constitutional hardball”\u003B they propose a series of laws that the states could pass to combat right\u002Dwing extremism. Concerned progressives, who have been beaten down by MAGA adherents but energized by recent liberal electoral victories, will find this interesting and inspiring reading. The examples of vigilantism the authors give won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has paid much attention to American political culture, but the book does present a coherent narrative that explains the nation’s descent into violence and authoritarianism." } } </script> </head> <body class="book-review-page" id="book-review-page" data-slot-scope="" hx-headers='{"X-CSRFToken": "ckDjyxmIyMRQbcwMtRwN5pAQRhtbEsIi0m2onVFLlouR4EI1uxjT8fvhJwyG8I0C"}'> <header role="group" class="header-section"><div class="container-fluid advertise-top-banner"><div class="text-center" id="kr-ad-1-site_header_970x90"><script type='text/javascript'> googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('kr-ad-1-site_header_970x90'); }); </script></div></div><div class="container desktop-top-header"><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-4"></div><div class="col-lg-4 text-center top-logo"><a class="kirkus-brand" href="/"><img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/logo/kirkus-nav-logo.svg" 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Bannon, the authors argue, is in the vanguard of a new class of political vigilantes: ”loosely connected cadres of right-wing activists, lawyers, thugs, grifters, and plutocrats who rally around a twice impeached president and blame their problems—real and manufactured—on Democrats, minorities, foreigners, scientists, bureaucrats, and educators.” The authors trace the origins of what they call “Vigilante Democracy,” a system that recruits “citizen culture warriors” to uphold white Christian power, to right-wing media figures like Rush Limbaugh and politicians like Sarah Palin. They also discuss the right’s embrace of George Zimmerman, who gunned down an unarmed Black teenager in a gated Florida community, and Kyle Rittenhouse, who after an altercation shot and killed a protestor at a Wisconsin racial justice demonstration. Vigilante Democracy, Michaels and Noll write, “deploys lawyers, gunslingers, thugs, parent associations, snitches, podcasters, influencers, keyboard warriors, and QAnon trolls” to ban books, restrict abortion, and demonize transgender children. The remedy, the authors conclude, lies with blue states playing “constitutional hardball”; they propose a series of laws that the states could pass to combat right-wing extremism. Concerned progressives, who have been beaten down by MAGA adherents but energized by recent liberal electoral victories, will find this interesting and inspiring reading. The examples of vigilantism the authors give won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has paid much attention to American political culture, but the book does present a coherent narrative that explains the nation’s descent into violence and authoritarianism.</p> Red meat for progressives, tempering its outrage with hopefulness and a plan for moving forward. </div> <ul class="list-inline article-social-share-mobile show-on-mobile divider-top d-xl-none d-md-block"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a title="Counts" href="#"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/add-to-shelf.png" width="18" height="18" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Like Counts"> <span class="counts p-0 text-dark">0</span> </a> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a class="share-via-fb" title="Share via Facebook" href="#" data-url="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jon-michaels/vigilante-nation/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/facebook-mobile.png" width="24" height="24" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Share via Facebook"> </a> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a title="Share via Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jon-michaels/vigilante-nation/&hashtags=kirkusreviews"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/twitter-mobile.png" width="24" height="24" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Share via Twitter"> </a> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a class="share-via-email" title="Share via Email" href="#"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/email-mobile.png" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Share via Email"> </a> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a title="Print" href="/book-reviews/jon-michaels/vigilante-nation/print/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/print-icon.png" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Print"> </a> </li> </ul> <div class="divider-bottom divider-gap hide-on-desktop show-on-mobile d-xl-none d-md-block"></div> <div class="row content-row mt-5"> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Pub Date:</b> Oct. 8, 2024</p> <p><b>ISBN:</b> 9781668023235</p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Page Count:</b> 384</p> <p><b>Publisher:</b> One Signal/Atria</p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Review Posted Online:</b> Aug. 17, 2024</p> <p><b>Kirkus Reviews Issue:</b> Sept. 15, 2024</p> </div> </div> <div class="row content-row"> <div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-12 col-xs-12 mb-3"> <div class="category-flex-container"> <div class="category-label flex-child" style="max-width: 68px"> <span class="cat-genre"><b>Categories:</b></span> </div> <div class="category-links flex-child"> <p class="article-category"> <a href="/discover-books/nonfiction/current-events-social-issues"> CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES</a> | <a href="/discover-books/nonfiction/current-events-social-issues"> CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES</a> | <a href="/discover-books/current-events-social-issues/us-government"> U.S. GOVERNMENT</a> | <a href="/discover-books/current-events-social-issues/issues-controversies"> ISSUES & CONTROVERSIES</a> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="share-review-text" hx-get="/book-reviews/like-dislike/2000266521/" hx-trigger="revealed" hx-target="next .htmx-like-dislike" hx-swap="innerHTML" >Share your opinion of this book</p> <div class="d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-lg-start my-3 htmx-like-dislike"> <ul class="list-inline like-dislike-article"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <div class="like-icon"></div> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <div class="dislike-icon"></div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="container book-description mx-xl-0 mx-lg-auto"> <div class="related-article 2000266521-author"> <div class="divider"></div> </div> </div> <div class="container book-description mx-xl-0 mx-lg-auto"> <div class="related-article"> <div class="divider"></div> </div> </div> <div class="container medium-banner-advertise-mobile medium-banner-news"> <div class="medium-banner-advertise medium-advertisement advertise-tag"> <div class="text-center" id="kr-ad-99-ReviewsNonfiction_970x250_first"> <script type='text/javascript'> googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('kr-ad-99-ReviewsNonfiction_970x250_first'); 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book-description book-description-pagination mx-xl-0 mx-lg-auto"> <h1 class="article-title">WAR</h1> <p class="article-author"> by <a href="/author/bob-woodward/"> Bob Woodward </a> <span class="hide-on-mobile"> ‧</span> <span class="pub-date-mobile">RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2024</span> </p> <p class="description-title kirkus-title"> An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form. </p> <div class="divider-bottom"></div> <div class="show-on-mobile hide-on-desktop mobile-two-buttons d-xl-none d-md-block"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-xs-6 d-flex justify-content-center"> <div hx-get="/book-reviews/bookshelf-button/2000268757/" hx-trigger="revealed" hx-target="this" > <div class="row d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="button-row"> <a class="kirkus-bookshelf-btn" href="#"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/remove-from-shelf.png" width="24px"/> <span class="hide-on-mobile show-on-tablet">bookshelf</span> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-xs-6 d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="row d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="purchase-btn-row dropdown show shop-now-dropdown"> <a class="kirkus-purchase-btn dropdown-toggle" href="#" id="dropdown-shop-link" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false" data-id="2000268757"> shop now <img class="button-img" src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/drop-down-white-icon.png" width="24px"/> </a> <div class="dropdown-menu kirkus-dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="dropdown-shop-link"> <a class="dropdown-item add-icon" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/166805227X?tag=kirkus-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">amazon</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="first-alphabet book-content text-left"> <p>Documenting perilous times.</p> <p>In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.” </p> An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form. </div> <ul class="list-inline article-social-share-mobile show-on-mobile divider-top d-xl-none d-md-block"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a title="Counts" href="#"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/add-to-shelf.png" width="18" height="18" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Like Counts"> <span class="counts p-0 text-dark">5</span> </a> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a class="share-via-fb" title="Share via Facebook" href="#" data-url="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bob-woodward/war-7/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/facebook-mobile.png" width="24" height="24" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Share via Facebook"> </a> </li> <li 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class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Pub Date:</b> Oct. 15, 2024</p> <p><b>ISBN:</b> 9781668052273</p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Page Count:</b> 448</p> <p><b>Publisher:</b> Simon & Schuster</p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Review Posted Online:</b> Oct. 15, 2024</p> <p><b>Kirkus Reviews Issue:</b> Dec. 15, 2024</p> </div> </div> <div class="row content-row"> <div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-12 col-xs-12 mb-3"> <div class="category-flex-container"> <div class="category-label flex-child" style="max-width: 68px"> <span class="cat-genre"><b>Categories:</b></span> </div> <div class="category-links flex-child"> <p class="article-category"> <a href="/discover-books/nonfiction/biography-memoir"> BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR</a> | <a href="/discover-books/nonfiction/current-events-social-issues"> CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES</a> | <a href="/discover-books/biography-memoir/political-royalty"> POLITICAL & ROYALTY</a> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="share-review-text" hx-get="/book-reviews/like-dislike/2000268757/" hx-trigger="revealed" hx-target="next .htmx-like-dislike" hx-swap="innerHTML" >Share your opinion of this book</p> <div class="d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-lg-start my-3 htmx-like-dislike"> <ul class="list-inline like-dislike-article"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <div class="like-icon"></div> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <div class="dislike-icon"></div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="container book-description mx-xl-0 mx-lg-auto"> <div class="related-article 2000268757-author"> <p class="related-content">More by Bob Woodward</p> <ul class="list-inline medium-card-list by-author-separater"> <li class="list-inline-item medium-list"> <div class="image-container medium-list-card"> <a href="/book-reviews/bob-woodward/peril-woodward/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/user-media/titles/title/cover/c42c828817e54d34b579f68e817e2c50/9781982182915.jpg.110x0_q85_autocrop.jpg" class="medium-card-list-img book-shadow" alt="PERIL"> </a> </div> </li> <li class="list-inline-item align-top medium-card-list-content w-100"> <ul class="list-inline book-category"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <p class="card-title align-top">BOOK REVIEW</p> </li> </ul> <a href="/book-reviews/bob-woodward/peril-woodward/" class="card-text">PERIL</a> <p class="article-author pt-3 text-left"> by <a href="/author/bob-woodward/"> Bob Woodward </a> & <a href="/author/robert-costa/"> Robert Costa </a> </p> </li> </ul> <ul class="list-inline medium-card-list by-author-separater"> <li class="list-inline-item medium-list"> <div class="image-container medium-list-card"> <a href="/book-reviews/bob-woodward/rage-woodward/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/user-media/titles/title/cover/47d3531f6dd14c45a9edeb89d817a887/9781982131739.jpg.110x0_q85_autocrop.jpg" class="medium-card-list-img book-shadow" alt="RAGE"> </a> </div> </li> <li class="list-inline-item align-top medium-card-list-content w-100"> <ul class="list-inline book-category"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <p class="card-title align-top">BOOK REVIEW</p> </li> </ul> <a href="/book-reviews/bob-woodward/rage-woodward/" class="card-text">RAGE</a> <p class="article-author pt-3 text-left"> by <a href="/author/bob-woodward/"> Bob Woodward </a> </p> </li> </ul> <ul class="list-inline medium-card-list by-author-separater"> <li class="list-inline-item medium-list"> <div class="image-container medium-list-card"> <a href="/book-reviews/bob-woodward/fear-trump-in-white-house/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/user-media/titles/title/cover/09be07ea873c427f888eb3e521c69353/9781501175510.jpg.110x0_q85_autocrop.jpg" 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<p>Bearing witness to oppression.</p> <p>Award-winning journalist and MacArthur Fellow Coates probes the narratives that shape our perception of the world through his reports on three journeys: to Dakar, Senegal, the last stop for Black Africans “before the genocide and rebirth of the Middle Passage”; to Chapin, South Carolina, where controversy erupted over a writing teacher’s use of <i>Between the World and Me </i>in class; and to Israel and Palestine, where he spent 10 days in a “Holy Land of barbed wire, settlers, and outrageous guns.” By addressing the essays to students in his writing workshop at Howard University in 2022, Coates makes a literary choice similar to the letter to his son that informed <i>Between the World and Me</i>; as in that book, the choice creates a sense of intimacy between writer and reader. Interweaving autobiography and reportage, Coates examines race, his identity as a Black American, and his role as a public intellectual. In Dakar, he is haunted by ghosts of his ancestors and “the shade of Niggerology,” a pseudoscientific narrative put forth to justify enslavement by portraying Blacks as inferior. In South Carolina, the 22-acre State House grounds, dotted with Confederate statues, continue to impart a narrative of white supremacy. His trip to the Middle East inspires the longest and most impassioned essay: “I don’t think I ever, in my life, felt the glare of racism burn stranger and more intense than in Israel,” he writes. In his complex analysis, he sees the trauma of the Holocaust playing a role in Israel’s tactics in the Middle East: “The wars against the Palestinians and their Arab allies were a kind of theater in which ‘weak Jews’ who went ‘like lambs to slaughter’ were supplanted by Israelis who would ‘fight back.’” Roiled by what he witnessed, Coates feels speechless, unable to adequately convey Palestinians’ agony; their reality “demands new messengers, tasked as we all are, with nothing less than saving the world.” </p> A revelatory meditation on shattering journeys. </div> <ul class="list-inline article-social-share-mobile show-on-mobile divider-top d-xl-none d-md-block"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a title="Counts" href="#"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/add-to-shelf.png" width="18" height="18" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Like Counts"> <span class="counts p-0 text-dark">3</span> </a> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <a 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title="Print" href="/book-reviews/ta-nehisi-coates/the-message-2/print/"> <img src="https://d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net/img/kir_images/icons/print-icon.png" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block" alt="Print"> </a> </li> </ul> <div class="divider-bottom divider-gap hide-on-desktop show-on-mobile d-xl-none d-md-block"></div> <div class="row content-row mt-5"> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Pub Date:</b> Oct. 1, 2024</p> <p><b>ISBN:</b> 9780593230381</p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Page Count:</b> 176</p> <p><b>Publisher:</b> One World/Random House</p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-sm-12 col-xs-12"> <p><b>Review Posted Online:</b> Aug. 2, 2024</p> <p><b>Kirkus Reviews Issue:</b> Sept. 1, 2024</p> </div> </div> <div class="row content-row"> <div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-12 col-xs-12 mb-3"> <div class="category-flex-container"> <div class="category-label flex-child" style="max-width: 68px"> <span class="cat-genre"><b>Categories:</b></span> </div> <div class="category-links flex-child"> <p class="article-category"> <a href="/discover-books/nonfiction/current-events-social-issues"> CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES</a> | <a href="/discover-books/current-events-social-issues/us-government"> U.S. GOVERNMENT</a> | <a href="/discover-books/current-events-social-issues/general-current-events-social-issues"> GENERAL CURRENT EVENTS & SOCIAL ISSUES</a> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="share-review-text" hx-get="/book-reviews/like-dislike/2000265485/" hx-trigger="revealed" hx-target="next .htmx-like-dislike" hx-swap="innerHTML" >Share your opinion of this book</p> <div class="d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-lg-start my-3 htmx-like-dislike"> <ul class="list-inline like-dislike-article"> <li class="list-inline-item"> <div class="like-icon"></div> </li> <li class="list-inline-item"> <div class="dislike-icon"></div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="container 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