{"product_id":"a-renegade-history-of-the-united-states-9781416576136","title":"A Renegade History of the United States","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis provocative perspective on America's history claims that the country's personality was defined not by the ideals of the elites and intellectuals, but by those who throughout have lived on the fringes of society history\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003eslaves, immigrants, gangsters, and others who challenged the conventions of their day.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Raucous, profane, and thrillingly original, Thaddeus Russell's \u003ci\u003eA Renegade History of the United States\u003c\/i\u003e turns the myths of the 'American character' on their heads with a rare mix of wit, scholarship, and storytelling flair\" (Steven Johnson, author of \u003ci\u003eEverything Bad Is Good for You\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Air\u003c\/i\u003e ). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn all-new, stunning, and controversial story of the United States: It was not \"good\" citizens who established American liberty, declares Thaddeus Russell, but \"immoral\" and \"degraded\" people on the fringes of society whose subversive lifestyles legitimized the taboo and made America the land of the free. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn vivid portraits of renegades and their \"respectable\" adversaries, Russell shows that the nation's history has been driven by clashes between those interested in preserving social order and those more interested in pursuing their own desires. The more these accidental revolutionaries--drunkards, prostitutes, gangsters, unassimilated immigrants, \"bad\" blacks--persevered, the more American society changed for the better. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is not the history taught in textbooks or classrooms--this renegade book will upend everything you believe about the American past.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRussell, Thaddeus:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Thaddeus Russell teaches history and cultural studies at Occidental College and has taught at Columbia University, Barnard College, Eugene Lang College, and the New School for Social Research. Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Russell graduated from Antioch College and received a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. Russell's first book, \u003ci\u003eOut of the Jungle: Jimmy Hoffa and the Re-Making of the American Working Class\u003c\/i\u003e, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2001. He has published opinion articles in the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e, Christian Science Monitor, Salon, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as scholarly essays in American Quarterly and The Columbia History of Post-World War II America. Russell has also appeared on the History Channel and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.","brand":"Free Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50566466765074,"sku":"9781416576136","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f76ad81a-09e1-48e3-83de-ec75bb0cc7e8.jpg?v=1731899615","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-renegade-history-of-the-united-states-9781416576136","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}