Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young

byZayd Ayers Dohrn, Zayd Ayers Dohrn (Read by)

My Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground

The son of the FBI's most wanted woman tells the electrifying story of a childhood on the run – and a half-century of revolutionary struggle in America

We all grapple with a past that defines us: culture, religion, a family story. But what happens when you inherit a revolution?

Zayd Ayers Dohrn was born underground. His parents were fugitives after a decade fighting the US government; his mother co-founded a leftist radical group called the Weathermen, and replaced Angela Davis on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. All his life, Dohrn’s parents said his birth marked a clean break with violent revolutionary struggle but, in this explosive memoir, he discovers that story wasn’t entirely true.

Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young offers a page-turning account of an infamous family and their life in hiding, as well as the political battles of the ‘60s and ‘70s. At its heart it asks big questions: how can a child survive when the place they feel safest – with their family – also puts them in danger? What does it mean to be a good revolutionary, and how should young people today try to change the world?

'A fascinating journey that illuminates, in often thought-provoking ways, the politics of violence in radical movements' Angela Davis

© Zayd Ayers Dohrn 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

'Riveting as a thriller, this wise and searching memoir about a family, an era, and a movement tells a story about America we’ve never quite heard before... It’s fearless, big-hearted, and profound. I simply couldn’t put it down.'

Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild

About Zayd Ayers Dohrn

Zayd Ayers Dohrn is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. He is also a Professor and Director of the MFA on Writing for the Screen + Stage at Northwestern University. His recent projects include the hit narrative podcast Mother Country Radicals and the punk/metal/hip-hop protest musical Revolutions.
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Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • ISBN: 9781529974775
  • Length: 669 minutes
  • Price: £14.00
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