I picked up this book because I used to study political science in college and I've been wanting to get back into reading more non-fiction about politics and U.S. history. And while I think this book fulfilled that purpose, there was just something about the way this was written that I didn't find very compelling. I know it's a non-fiction book, but it often read like a dense textbook that I had to try to parse through and figure out what they were trying to say, which is not what I was looking for. Overall, it was very informative and factual, so I recommend to anyone interested in the concept, but the actual portrayal of the information was slightly boring to me.

Detailed history of the Communist Party USA that delves into the contradictions of fighting for equality in justice as they promoted a brutal tyranny in the Soviet Union.

An excellent comprehensive account of the trials and tribulations of the CPUSA and the many forces aligned against these radicals. Isserman does an excellent job accounting for why Communism was kept marginalized in the American working-class. The success of business associations, corporate stakeholders, and industrialists in painting Communism as inherently 'foreign' and threatening speaks volumes about the power of nativist thinking throughout the 20th century. A great account of brave people who dared to think differently and paid for it with their relationships, their careers, and in some cases, even their lives.