Buzz
“Dreier’s book is a fascinating read. It can be read chronologically, or just as easily by picking and choosing the individuals whose lives and work he examines. Some names are familiar, yet with those Dreier seemingly always adds something new—things beyond the conventional wisdom.”
“The 100 Greatest Americans is a rich social and cultural history that venerates America’s most influential progressives, an honor roll of sorts recognizing the people who moved progressive ideas in the United States from the marginal to the mainstream.”
—Marrissa Colon-Margolies, The Nation Institute
“Crisp, snappy bios of important progressive Americans in recent history… A provocative collection that includes a timeline and a roster of up-and-coming contenders for a new century already showing signs of progress.”
“Writer/professor Peter Dreier’s new book is called The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century, a nervy title that dares readers to take a poke at the author’s chin. A corrective to Greatest Generation blather, Dreier’s 100 profiles refract a century of progressive movements through the lives of leaders whose native radicalism helped push America toward a more humane vision of society.”
“A compelling narrative of the major social justice movements of the United States and the ways that high ideals are transformed into action. I’ve found myself caught up in the sweep of history the book encompasses and in the richness of the details embedded in each story. Terrific reading.”
“A great collection of gripping stories. A book you won’t want to put down.”
—Frances Fox Piven
“A timely and heartening reminder that America’s most valuable citizens were resolute and inventive progressives. A wonderfully written antidote to this decade’s choice between centrism and defeatism.”
—Robert Kuttner
“Skillfully crafted…a call to action for our generation and the next.”
—Nelson Lichtenstein
MacArthur Foundation Chair in History, University of California, Santa Barbara
[…] Buzz […]