Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young

byZayd Ayers Dohrn

My Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground

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

The son of the FBI's most wanted woman tells the electrifying, heart-rending 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.

A masterpiece of personal and social history, 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?

'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.
Details
  • Imprint: Chatto & Windus
  • ISBN: 9781784745783
  • Length: 352 pages
  • Price: £22.00
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