A perceptive and passionately liberal book. Beginning with the antislavery crusade of the 1840s, Kazin skillfully surveys more than a century of mass protests, using imagery and symbolism as his guides.
* New York times *
Kazin shows populism's canny ability to mix homespun rhetoric and political savvy. The book explains something very important in American life with scrupulous fairness and a keen eye for the humanizing detail. It is as good a road map as we have to the politics of the people who work hard and play by the rules.
* Wall Street Journal *
The important questions raised by the success of the populist right in the United States are illuminated in Kazin's splendid and timely book.
* The Nation *
Kazin does an admirable job of tracing the transformations of the populist persuasion, ending with its recent capture by the Right. Earlier populism-especially the People's party of the 1890s-was identified with the Left, concerned to limit economic inequality, committed to the rights of workers as producers, and inclined to regard political society as a moral community, to be judged by essentially religious standards.
* Commonweal *
In his new book, Michael Kazin provides a rich and thoughtful account of the evolution of populist rhetoric on the left and the right in American politics in the past century.
* The New Republic *
Michael Kazin introduces The Populist Persuasion with a forthright acknowledgment of the decline of the American left.... Attractively open-minded. If more minds were open, fewer of them would be boggled.
* Times Literary Supplement *
Felicitously written, densely researched, and sprinkled with astute observations, The Populist Persuasion also displays a knack for locating political and intellectual contradictions.
* The Historian *
The Populist Persuasion is provocative on individual moments and advocates and provides a rich source of information in both text and notes about populism's many expressions. This well-researched and lucidly written book provides a compendium of significant cases for teachers and scholars and suggestions for future research.
* Quarterly Journal of Speech *
In this book, Kazin provides a significant historical view of a complex phenomenon that has had a profound impact on American life. He deserves credit for enlarging the panorama and furnishing a fresh outlook on a significant aspect of American history.
* The Annals of the American Academy *
Kazin has produced an extremely stimulating and suggestive book. His analysis of the development of American political rhetoric during the past century is consistently lucid, incisive, and compelling.
* History *
