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Progressive Nation: A Travel Guide with 400+ Inspiring Landmarks and Left Turns [Paperback]

Jerome Pohlen (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Price: $18.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Book Description

June 1, 2008
Nearly every progressive movement in American history can be traced back to a person who said "This must change" and then set out to change it. This inspiring travel guide to over 400 markers of progressive politics in the United States celebrates those individuals, their accomplishments, and the movements and communities they inspired. Visit the battlegrounds and celebrate the victories of the civil libertarians, feminists, African Americans, gays, lesbians, environmentalists, labor organizers, and media activists who have worked to create a just, peaceful society that respects all of its citizens. With enthusiasm and humor, Jerome Pohlen guides travelers to such landmarks of change as
  • The home of abolitionists Levi and Catharine Coffin, Grand Central Station on the Underground Railroad
  • Alice’s Restaurant Church, the namesake of Arlo Guthrie’s song protesting the draft
  • The courthouse where Susan B. Anthony went on trial for attempting to vote
  • The site of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago, where laborers protested working conditions
  • The former camera shop where Harvey Milk launched his campaign to become America’s first openly gay elected official
Each entry features a listing of books, films, and Web sites for further information, making this an essential lefty resource. For adventurous travelers, family vacationers, and those who want a more complete picture of American history, this book will inspire them to do more than just cast a vote.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—Pohlen's unique and impelling guide serves as a minicourse in American Progressive history. The book's seven sections correspond to geographical regions, from New England to the Pacific Rim. Sites include the universally familiar (the Bread and Roses Strike in Lowell, MA; the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL) along with the lesser known, such as the parking lot in Belle Glade, FL, featured in "Harvest of Shame," Edward R. Murrow's influential 1960 broadcast about the plight of migrant workers. With each location, the author tells not only what occurred there, but also how the consequences affected American society. Entries range from a single paragraph to a page and a half, each indentified by icons providing information (such as the type of site and whether it is private or public property) and followed by a list of sources and contacts. Pohlen makes effective use of quote boxes; additional information is also set aside in a shaded, file-folder design. Some 70 distinct black-and-white photographs accompany the text. Whether or not readers ever visit a site, they will have enriched their knowledge of Progressive ideals and the people who faced incarceration, injury, and even death in order to "move America forward."—Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Provides fascinating vignettes of American's largely forgotten radical past."  —Library Journal


"Pohlen's unique and impelling guide serves as a minicourse in American Progressive history."  —School Library Journal


"The author . . . provide[s] extra incentive for the common traveler to get inspired—and instigate positive change."  —Kirkus Reviews



"[A] unique guide."  —Booklist


"Lively and resourceful."  —New York Times



"Unusual and often inspiring handbook."  —CapeCodTimes.com and The Bakersfield Californian


"[An] unusual and often inspiring guidebook."  —Chicago Tribune


"This book journeys to all the places in the U.S. that are vital to progressive politics."  —Mother Jones


Product Details

  • Paperback: 422 pages
  • Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1556527179
  • ISBN-13: 978-1556527173
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,984,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Travelling through progressive America., June 7, 2008
By 
Preston C. Enright (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Progressive Nation: A Travel Guide with 400+ Inspiring Landmarks and Left Turns (Paperback)
This book has been so needed. So often, as we travel the U.S., the only radio options we have are right-wing blowhards like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The corporatist and militarist control over our media Orwell Rolls in His Grave misleads people into thinking that America is a right-wing country, but Jerome Pohlen's book helps to set the record straight. Even at 400 pages, it only touches the surface of this country's rich tradition of popular struggle People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.). "Progressive Nation" includes famous and not-so-famous sites in every state, from Grafton, WV where we learn of the anti-war origins of the first Mother's Day, to Stafford, CA where we find the tree where Julia "Butterfly" Hill conducted her famous tree-sit. We also learn of current progressive actions taking place, such as in Tucson, AZ where solidarity groups like "No More Deaths.org" provide water and medical assistance to immigrants who risk death crossing the desert to flee the economic destruction of NAFTA and other "free" trade deals The Selling of "Free Trade": NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of American Democracy.

"Progressive Nation" has an appealling layout, and is filled with photos, quotes, and media suggestions for more information.

The author is a 2008 Green Party candidate for Congress in Illinois. I'm going to donate to his campaign as a token of thanks for this important book that brings to life America's proud left-wing history.

If Pohlen doesn't win his electoral race, hopefully he'll write more books like this. Maybe more detailed state-by-state progressive travel guides.

A couple related DVDs:

Red State Road Trip

Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & PopIndependent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop

Anthem

A related book:

Lies Across America: What American Historic Sites Get Wrong
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
César Chávez, puppet theater
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, Supreme Court, African American, The Mid-Atlantic, World War, Civil War, Main Street, The Midwest, The South, New England, White House, South Carolina, Board of Education, District of Columbia, Random House, Vietnam War, West Virginia, North Carolina, San Francisco, Jimmy Carter, New Orleans, The Pacific Rim, Camp Casey, Fourteenth Amendment
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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