American Midnight

The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis

By: Adam Hochschild

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

From legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a groundbreaking reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threated by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor

""A riveting, resonant account of the fragility of freedom.”—Kirkus, STARRED review

The nation was on the brink. Mobs burned Black churches to the ground. Courts threw thousands of people into prison for opinions they voiced—in one notable case, only in private. Self-appointed vigilantes executed tens of thousands of citizens’ arrests. Some seventy-five newspapers and magazines were banned from the mail and forced to close. When the government stepped in, it was often to fan the flames.

This was America during and after the Great War: a brief but appalling era blighted by lynchings, censorship, and the sadistic, sometimes fatal abuse of conscientious objectors in military prisons—a time whose toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting, and contempt for the rule of law then flowed directly through the intervening decades to poison our own. It was a tumultuous period defined by a diverse and colorful cast of characters, some of whom fueled the injustice while others fought against it: from the sphinxlike Woodrow Wilson, to the fiery antiwar advocates Kate Richards O’Hare and Emma Goldman, to labor champion Eugene Debs, to a little-known but ambitious bureaucrat named J. Edgar Hoover, and to an outspoken leftwing agitator—who was in fact Hoover’s star undercover agent. It is a time that we have mostly forgotten about, until now.

In American Midnight, award-winning historian Adam Hochschild brings alive the horrifying yet inspiring four years following the U.S. entry into the First World War, spotlighting forgotten repression while celebrating an unforgettable set of Americans who strove to fix their fractured country—and showing how their struggles still guide us today.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Still relevant

If you removed specific time references you would swear this was a current events book.

American Midnight

Fascinating portrayal of Woodrow Wilson. Dump on Trump not necessary. Spoiled the book’s ending.🇺🇸 Donna

Untold part of history

I enjoyed overall learning about this period of American history that is not talked about much. Probably due to shame and embarrassment. Only reason I didn’t give 5 star is author’s political opinions were too obvious and I’m not interested in that, just the history.

Required Reading for all Americans

This is a necessary book to acquire a foundational understanding of American history throughout the time Surrounding World War I, and its repercussions.

Important

Important history that is often ignored. We’re repeating much of it in our present day