New Books in American Politics

In this interview, she discusses her book, Race, Politics, and Irish America: A Gothic History (Oxford UP, 2023), which inserts successive Irish-American identities--forcibly transported Irish, Scots-Irish, and post-Famine Irish--into American histories and representations of race.Figures from the Scots-Irish Andrew Jackson to the Caribbean-Irish Rihanna, as well as literature, film, caricature, and beauty discourse, convey how the Irish racially transformed multiple times: in the slave-holding Caribbean, on America's frontiers and antebellum plantations, and along its eastern seaboard. This cultural history of race and centuries of Irishness in the Americas examines the forcibly transported Irish, the eighteenth-century Presbyterian Ulster-Scots, and post-1845 Famine immigrants. Their racial transformations are indicated by the designations they acquired in the Americas: 'Redlegs,' 'Scots-Irish,' and 'black Irish.' In literature by Fitzgerald, O'Neill, Mitchell, Glasgow, and Yerby (an African-American author of Scots-Irish heritage), the Irish are both colluders and victims within America's racial structure. Depictions range from Irish encounters with Native and African Americans to competition within America's immigrant hierarchy between 'Saxon' Scots-Irish and 'Celtic' Irish Catholic. Irish-connected presidents feature, but attention to queer and multiracial authors, public women, beauty professionals, and performers complicates the 'Irish whitening' narrative. Thus, 'Irish Princess' Grace Kelly's globally-broadcast ascent to royalty paves the way for 'America's royals,' the Kennedys. The presidencies of the Scots-Irish Jackson and Catholic-Irish Kennedy signalled their respective cohorts' assimilation. Since Gothic literature particularly expresses the complicity that attaining power ('whiteness') entails, subgenres named 'Scots-Irish Gothic' and 'Kennedy Gothic' are identified: in Gothic by Brown, Poe, James, Faulkner, and Welty, the violence of the colonial Irish motherland is visited upon marginalized Americans, including, sometimes, other Irish groupings. History is Gothic in Irish-American narrative because the undead Irish past replays within America's contexts of race.Aidan Beatty is a historian at the Frederick Honors College of the University of Pittsburgh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 3 of 3.In the spring of 1942, James P. Cannon, the founder of American Trotskyism, gave a series of lectures in New York on the first decade of the movement. The challenges, the setbacks, the accomplishments and the lessons learned were recounted with Cannon’s trademark style that managed to be accessible while also maintaining the revolutionary militancy he was trying to carry on. The lectures would eventually become a book, The History of American Trotskyism, 1928-38: Report of a Participant. In a short editorial note, Joseph Hansen remarked “Historians of the future, writing the definitive history of American and world Trotskyism, will undoubtedly round out Cannon's history with additional material delved from original sources; but, while there is no pretension to exhaustive research or extensive documentation in this work, future historians utilizing it as source material will find that they must likewise depend heavily upon it as a guidepost.” This little remark has been proven correct by several later books on labor in the depression, but it now appears almost prophetic with the arrival of Bryan Palmer’s latest work, James P. Cannon and the Emergence of Trotskyism, 1928-38 (Brill, 2021).Published as part of the Historical Materialism book series, it starts off right where it’s sequel, James P. Cannon and the Origins of the Revolutionary Left, 1890-1928, left off, with Cannon and several other comrades expelled from the Communist Party. With hardly a penny to their name, but an urgent political mission, they set about forming an oppositional faction, one that could both challenge the political degeneration emanating from a Moscow that was succumbing to Stalinism while also working to revitalize an American labor movement that was rediscovering it’s own fighting spirit. Through Cannon and his comrades, Palmer is able to tell a story of class struggle that shows what even a small group can do when political militancy and clarity are brought to life, even in the face of obstacles that appear insurmountable.Clocking in at 1200 pages, the book is brimming with detail about both the day-to-day minutiae of class struggle in the period, but also spends a fair amount of time giving international and other historical context. Palmer’s capacity to wander through vast archives of material is matched by his storytelling abilities, turning a huge mass of information into a highly readable and compelling narrative. While reading it cover-to-cover will be richly rewarding for those who do, it will also be an excellent resource for those who read it’s chapters more selectively, whether looking to learn about the Minneapolis truckers strike of 1934, the Trotskyists entry into the Socialist Party or Trotsky’s trial in which he defended himself against accusations emanating from Moscow. It deserves to be on the shelf of anyone interested in labor history and radical politics, and anyone who feels the realm of political possibility to be dire. This book itself is not the revolution, but it will provide lessons and inspiration for those who are hoping to bring it about.As an entry in the Historical Materialism book series, the book was originally published in hardcover by Brill, with the paperback made available by Haymarket.Bryan D. Palmer is Professor Emeritus and former Canada Research Chair of Canadian Studies at Trent University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Society, former editor of Labour/Le Travail, and has published widely on the history of labour and the revolutionary left. His numerous books include Marxism and Historical Practice, Revolutionary Teamsters, Cultures of Darkness and Descent into Discourse. He is also the co-editor with Paul LeBlanc and Thomas Bias of the 3-volume document collection US Trotskyism, 1928-65. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin R. C. Gutzman's The Jeffersonians: Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, 1801-1825 (St. Martin's Press, 2022) marks the first chronicle of the only consecutive trio of two-term presidencies of the same political party in American history: Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Before the consecutive two-term administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, there had only been one other trio of its type: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.Kevin R. C. Gutzman's The Jeffersonians is a complete chronicle of the men, known as The Virginia Dynasty, who served as president from 1801 to 1825 and implemented the foreign policy, domestic, and constitutional agenda of the radical wing of the American Revolution, setting guideposts for later American liberals to follow.The three close political allies were tightly related: Jefferson and Madison were the closest of friends, and Monroe was Jefferson's former law student. Their achievements were many, including the founding of the opposition Republican Party in the 1790s; the Louisiana Purchase; and the call upon Congress in 1806 to use its constitutional power to ban slave imports beginning on January 1, 1808.Of course, not everything the Virginia Dynasty undertook was a success: Its chief failure might have been the ineptly planned and led War of 1812. In general, however, when Monroe rode off into the sunset in 1825, his passing and the end of The Virginia Dynasty were much lamented. Kevin R. C. Gutzman's new book details a time in America when three Presidents worked toward common goals to strengthen our Republic in a way we rarely see in American politics today.Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network (Twitter: @caleb_zakarin). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 2 of 3.In the spring of 1942, James P. Cannon, the founder of American Trotskyism, gave a series of lectures in New York on the first decade of the movement. The challenges, the setbacks, the accomplishments and the lessons learned were recounted with Cannon’s trademark style that managed to be accessible while also maintaining the revolutionary militancy he was trying to carry on. The lectures would eventually become a book, The History of American Trotskyism, 1928-38: Report of a Participant. In a short editorial note, Joseph Hansen remarked “Historians of the future, writing the definitive history of American and world Trotskyism, will undoubtedly round out Cannon's history with additional material delved from original sources; but, while there is no pretension to exhaustive research or extensive documentation in this work, future historians utilizing it as source material will find that they must likewise depend heavily upon it as a guidepost.” This little remark has been proven correct by several later books on labor in the depression, but it now appears almost prophetic with the arrival of Bryan Palmer’s latest work, James P. Cannon and the Emergence of Trotskyism, 1928-38 (Brill, 2021).Published as part of the Historical Materialism book series, it starts off right where it’s sequel, James P. Cannon and the Origins of the Revolutionary Left, 1890-1928, left off, with Cannon and several other comrades expelled from the Communist Party. With hardly a penny to their name, but an urgent political mission, they set about forming an oppositional faction, one that could both challenge the political degeneration emanating from a Moscow that was succumbing to Stalinism while also working to revitalize an American labor movement that was rediscovering it’s own fighting spirit. Through Cannon and his comrades, Palmer is able to tell a story of class struggle that shows what even a small group can do when political militancy and clarity are brought to life, even in the face of obstacles that appear insurmountable.Clocking in at 1200 pages, the book is brimming with detail about both the day-to-day minutiae of class struggle in the period, but also spends a fair amount of time giving international and other historical context. Palmer’s capacity to wander through vast archives of material is matched by his storytelling abilities, turning a huge mass of information into a highly readable and compelling narrative. While reading it cover-to-cover will be richly rewarding for those who do, it will also be an excellent resource for those who read it’s chapters more selectively, whether looking to learn about the Minneapolis truckers strike of 1934, the Trotskyists entry into the Socialist Party or Trotsky’s trial in which he defended himself against accusations emanating from Moscow. It deserves to be on the shelf of anyone interested in labor history and radical politics, and anyone who feels the realm of political possibility to be dire. This book itself is not the revolution, but it will provide lessons and inspiration for those who are hoping to bring it about.As an entry in the Historical Materialism book series, the book was originally published in hardcover by Brill, with the paperback made available by Haymarket.Bryan D. Palmer is Professor Emeritus and former Canada Research Chair of Canadian Studies at Trent University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Society, former editor of Labour/Le Travail, and has published widely on the history of labour and the revolutionary left. His numerous books include Marxism and Historical Practice, Revolutionary Teamsters, Cultures of Darkness and Descent into Discourse. He is also the co-editor with Paul LeBlanc and Thomas Bias of the 3-volume document collection US Trotskyism, 1928-65. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part 1 of 3.In the spring of 1942, James P. Cannon, the founder of American Trotskyism, gave a series of lectures in New York on the first decade of the movement. The challenges, the setbacks, the accomplishments and the lessons learned were recounted with Cannon’s trademark style that managed to be accessible while also maintaining the revolutionary militancy he was trying to carry on. The lectures would eventually become a book, The History of American Trotskyism, 1928-38: Report of a Participant. In a short editorial note, Joseph Hansen remarked “Historians of the future, writing the definitive history of American and world Trotskyism, will undoubtedly round out Cannon's history with additional material delved from original sources; but, while there is no pretension to exhaustive research or extensive documentation in this work, future historians utilizing it as source material will find that they must likewise depend heavily upon it as a guidepost.” This little remark has been proven correct by several later books on labor in the depression, but it now appears almost prophetic with the arrival of Bryan Palmer’s latest work, James P. Cannon and the Emergence of Trotskyism, 1928-38 (Brill, 2021).Published as part of the Historical Materialism book series, it starts off right where it’s sequel, James P. Cannon and the Origins of the Revolutionary Left, 1890-1928, left off, with Cannon and several other comrades expelled from the Communist Party. With hardly a penny to their name, but an urgent political mission, they set about forming an oppositional faction, one that could both challenge the political degeneration emanating from a Moscow that was succumbing to Stalinism while also working to revitalize an American labor movement that was rediscovering it’s own fighting spirit. Through Cannon and his comrades, Palmer is able to tell a story of class struggle that shows what even a small group can do when political militancy and clarity are brought to life, even in the face of obstacles that appear insurmountable.Clocking in at 1200 pages, the book is brimming with detail about both the day-to-day minutiae of class struggle in the period, but also spends a fair amount of time giving international and other historical context. Palmer’s capacity to wander through vast archives of material is matched by his storytelling abilities, turning a huge mass of information into a highly readable and compelling narrative. While reading it cover-to-cover will be richly rewarding for those who do, it will also be an excellent resource for those who read it’s chapters more selectively, whether looking to learn about the Minneapolis truckers strike of 1934, the Trotskyists entry into the Socialist Party or Trotsky’s trial in which he defended himself against accusations emanating from Moscow. It deserves to be on the shelf of anyone interested in labor history and radical politics, and anyone who feels the realm of political possibility to be dire. This book itself is not the revolution, but it will provide lessons and inspiration for those who are hoping to bring it about.As an entry in the Historical Materialism book series, the book was originally published in hardcover by Brill, with the paperback made available by Haymarket.Bryan D. Palmer is Professor Emeritus and former Canada Research Chair of Canadian Studies at Trent University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Society, former editor of Labour/Le Travail, and has published widely on the history of labour and the revolutionary left. His numerous books include Marxism and Historical Practice, Revolutionary Teamsters, Cultures of Darkness and Descent into Discourse. He is also the co-editor with Paul LeBlanc and Thomas Bias of the 3-volume document collection US Trotskyism, 1928-65. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren N. Haumesser's The Democratic Collapse: How Gender Politics Broke a Party and a Nation, 1856-1861 (UNC Press, 2022) offers a fresh examination of antebellum politics comprehensively examines the ways that gender issues and gendered discourse exacerbated fissures within the Democratic Party in the critical years between 1856 and 1861. Whereas the cultural politics of gender had bolstered Democratic unity through the 1850s, the Lecompton crisis and John Brown's raid revealed that white manhood and its association with familial and national protection meant disparate--and ultimately incompatible--things in free and slave society. In fierce debates over the extension of slavery, gendered rhetoric hardened conflicts that ultimately led to the outbreak of the Civil War.Lauren Haumesser here traces how northern and southern Democrats and their partisan media organs used gender to make powerful arguments about slavery as the sectional crisis grew, from the emergence of the Republican Party to secession. Gendered charges and countercharges turned slavery into an intractable cultural debate, raising the stakes of every dispute and making compromise ever more elusive.Lauren N. Haumesser holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Virginia.Jackson Reinhardt is a graduate of University of Southern California and Vanderbilt University. He is currently an independent scholar, freelance writer, and research assistant. You can reach Jackson at jtreinhardt1997@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @JTRhardt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Ayers Trotti's The End of Public Execution: Race, Religion and Punishment in the American South (The University of North Carolina Press, 2022) documents the complex religious and cultural textures of post-Civil War executions in the U.S. South. Before 1850, all legal executions in the South were performed before crowds that could number in the thousands; the last legal public execution was in 1936. This study focuses on the shift from public executions to ones behind barriers, situating that change within our understandings of lynching and competing visions of justice and religion. Intended to shame and intimidate, public executions after the Civil War had quite a different effect on southern Black communities. Crowds typically consisting of as many Black people as white behaved like congregations before a macabre pulpit, led in prayer and song by a Black minister on the scaffold. Black criminals often proclaimed their innocence and almost always their salvation. This turned the proceedings into public, mixed-race and mixed-gender celebrations of Black religious authority and devotion. In response, southern states rewrote their laws to eliminate these crowds and this Black authority, ultimately turning to electrocutions in the bowels of state penitentiaries. In just the same era when a wave of lynchings crested around the turn of the twentieth century, states transformed the ways that the South's white-dominated governments controlled legal capital punishment, making executions into private affairs witnessed only by white people.Lane Davis is an Instructor of Religion at Huntingdon College. Find him on Twitter @TheeLaneDavis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In The New Freedom and the Radicals: Woodrow Wilson, Progressive Views of Radicalism, and the Origins of Repressive Tolerance (Temple University Press, 2015), Jacob Kramer examines how progressivism emerged at a time of critical transformation in American life. Kramer presents a study of Wilsonian-era politics to convey an understanding of the progressives’ views on radical America.Jacob Kramer is an Associate Professor of History at Borough of Manhattan Community College.Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press, 2020). Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over one million Black men and women served in World War II. Black troops were at Normandy, Iwo Jima, and the Battle of the Bulge, serving in segregated units and performing unheralded but vital support jobs, only to be denied housing and educational opportunities on their return home. Without their crucial contributions to the war effort, the United States could not have won the war. And yet the stories of these Black veterans have long been ignored, cast aside in favor of the myth of the “Good War” fought by the “Greatest Generation.”Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad (Viking, 2022) is American history as you’ve likely never read it before. In these pages are stories of Black heroes such as Thurgood Marshall, the chief lawyer for the NAACP, who investigated and publicized violence against Black troops and veterans; Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., leader of the Tuskegee Airmen, who was at the forefront of the years-long fight to open the Air Force to Black pilots; Ella Baker, the civil rights leader who advocated on the home front for Black soldiers, veterans, and their families; James Thompson, the 26-year-old whose letter to a newspaper laying bare the hypocrisy of fighting against fascism abroad when racism still reigned at home set in motion the Double Victory campaign; and poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a war correspondent for the Black press. Their bravery and patriotism in the face of unfathomable racism is both inspiring and galvanizing. In a time when the questions World War II raised regarding race and democracy in America remain troublingly relevant and still unanswered, this meticulously researched retelling makes for urgently necessary reading.Omari Averette-Phillips is a graduate student in the department of history at UC Davis. He can be reached at omariaverette@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Half of Black Americans who live in the one hundred largest metropolitan areas are now living in suburbs, not cities. In Liberty Road: Black Middle-Class Suburbs and the Battle Between Civil Rights and Neoliberalism (NYU Press, 2022), Gregory Smithsimon shows us how this happened, and why it matters, unearthing the hidden role that suburbs played in establishing the Black middle-class.Focusing on Liberty Road, a Black middle-class suburb of Randallstown, Maryland, Smithsimon tells the remarkable story of how residents broke the color barrier, against all odds, in the face of racial discrimination, tensions with suburban Whites and urban Blacks, and economic crises like the mortgage meltdown of 2008. Drawing on interviews, census data, and archival research he shows us the unique strategies that suburban Black residents in Liberty Road employed, creating a blueprint for other Black middle-class suburbs.Brittney Edmonds is an Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. I specialize in 20th and 21st century African American Literature and Culture with a special interest in Black Humor Studies. Read more about my work at brittneymichelleedmonds.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices