Why read War By Other Means?

Book cover of War By Other Means: The Pacifists Of The Greatest Generation Who Revolutionized Resistance

Book description

"Akst argues that the modern progressive movement, wide-ranging in its causes and narratives today, has origins in the pacifist response to American involvement in World War II... At its best, one gets the sense of generative force born from such intense intellectual, moral and religious pressure." -- The Washington Post

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Why read it?

1 author picked War By Other Means as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Fergus M. Bordewich

Author

I found Akst’s book revelatory, opening up a whole sphere of American history between the world wars that I was only vaguely aware of.

I was moved by the sheer moral tenacity of men and women who refused to accept the necessity for war under any circumstances. His four central characters – Black activist Bayard Rustin, Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the religious intellectual David Dellinger, and leftwing journalist Dwight Macdonald – struggled for their values at great personal cost to themselves.

Akst, who writes beautifully, is a sympathetic but critical narrator who shows persuasively that techniques that the pacifists developed…

From Fergus' 3 favorite reads in 2023.