Days of Rage

America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence

By: Bryan Burrough

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of Public Enemies and The Big Rich, an explosive account of the decade-long battle between the FBI and the homegrown revolutionary movements of the 1970s:

• The Weathermen
• The Symbionese Liberation Army
• The FALN
• The Black Liberation Army

The names seem quaint now, when not forgotten altogether. But there was a stretch of time in America, during the 1970s, when bombings by domestic underground groups were a daily occurrence. The FBI combated these groups and others as nodes in a single revolutionary underground, dedicated to the violent overthrow of the American government.

The FBI’s response to the leftist revolutionary counterculture has not been treated kindly by history, and in hindsight many of its efforts seem almost comically ineffectual, if not criminal in themselves. But part of the extraordinary accomplishment of Bryan Burrough’s Days of Rage is to temper those easy judgments with an understanding of just how deranged these times were, how charged with menace.

Burrough re-creates an atmosphere that seems almost unbelievable just 40 years later, conjuring a time of native-born radicals, most of them “nice middle-class kids”, smuggling bombs into skyscrapers and detonating them inside the Pentagon and the US Capitol, at a Boston courthouse and a Wall Street restaurant packed with lunchtime diners - radicals robbing dozens of banks and assassinating policemen in New York, San Francisco, Atlanta. The FBI, encouraged to do everything possible to undermine the radical underground, itself broke many laws in its attempts to bring the revolutionaries to justice - often with disastrous consequences.

Benefiting from the extraordinary number of people from the underground and the FBI who speak about their experiences for the first time, Days of Rage is filled with revelations and fresh details about the major revolutionaries and their connections and about the FBI and its desperate efforts to make the bombings stop. The result is a mesmerizing book that takes us into the hearts and minds of homegrown terrorists and federal agents alike and weaves their stories into a spellbinding secret history of the 1970s.

©2015 Bryan Burrough (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Burrough's scholarly pursuit of archival documents and oral histories does not result in an academic tome. Stories are told in a compelling, novelistic fashion, and Burrough doesn't have to stretch to get plenty of sex and violence onto the pages. The descriptions of bloody shootouts and bodies dismembered in bombings are impressively vivid. If you ever wanted to know what it felt like to be at an awkward Weathermen orgy, here's your chance.” (Chicago Tribune)

"Burroughs’s insights are powerful... Doggedly pursuing former radicals who’ve never spoken on the record before,Vanity Fair special correspondent Burrough (The Big Rich) delivers an exhaustive history of the mostly ignored period of 1970s domestic terrorism." (Publishers Weekly)

“A fascinating, in-depth look at a tumultuous period of American unrest.” (Booklist)

great story, minor flaws

Very interesting and flows together well, but every once in awhile one minor detail would throw everything off. For example, the author refers to a handgun as a 347 Magnum. Clearly, he meant a 357 magnum, as there is no such thing as a 347. Other than little details like this however, a very enjoyable read.

Fascinating, excellent work!

I remember the first time my father pointed out the sheer number of bombings in America during this period, and it didn't seem real. I think it's a useful perspective to have.

Amazing treatment of tough history

Any additional comments?

No other book has the fine detail of every single group and radical action of the period. The author treats the victims of the violence of the era with great respect and empathy and exposes the fraud and duplicity of many of the groups at hand. He also gives chilling details of those groups that were not just playing. A must for anyone interested in the 1970s. Ray Porter is an outstanding reader.

some rumors goin 'round, someone's underground...

"And there's some rumors going 'round, someone's underground" The Eagles, "Witchy Woman," 1972

This is THE new treatise on the radical left of the 1970s, including the Weatherman from early 1970 to 1972, the Black Liberation Army from the Spring of 1971 to 1973, the Weather Underground in 1973, the Symbionese Liberation Army from November 1973 to 1974 and the FALN of the late 1970s , the last being the communist organization fighting for Puerto Rican "independence." This book is a thorough review of these organizations and the people behind them, some of whom were imprisoned and some who have escaped the authorities until this day. The explosives used in the bombings were mostly ineffective, but killed innocent people. I don't know that many of those responsible are truly remorseful. As the book captures, a lot of these "radicals" had a savior complex.

I think the author did as best he could with the materials he had. Mr. Burrough certainly illuminated the reasons underlying the formation of these terrorist groups - it was more due to racism than the war in Vietnam and most of the members of the primarily white factions were liberal rich kids. Yet, I found the book lacking as a compelling read in the nature of the best historical literature of late.

If you came of age during the 1970s though, and have memories of the evening news reports of a new bombing every few weeks and surreal names like Symbionese and the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, I recommend this in-depth history of a turbulent time in our nation's past.

Get up and change it yourself !!

What a terrific insider view of the days of rage. I lived those times and knew not why all this was happening. In hindsight, they were ahead of the times...and so it remains. Life has no remote, get up and change it yourself!!

great history and performance. somewhat biased.

great reporting. relied too heavily on state perspective though. Author open about bias though. So it's not the best book in terms of perspective for those sympathetic to revolution in the US. But it is unparalleled in its reporting and scope, even if not all of the reporting is unbiased because it relies a little too heavily on presumption of guilt or "official" narratives in some cases.

“Day of Rage” shines a spotlight on the unsavory events of that era many would prefer forgotten.

I was introduced to “Days of Rage” through Darryl Cooper’s epic podcast series “God’s Socialist” which chronicles the life of Jim Jones along with the broader context of leftist radical movements in the 1970s. As a fan of history and someone who follows politics I was utterly blown away; I felt I had uncovered a piece of forgotten history.

Modern corporate news tends to be inundated with stories of political violence and radicalism of the right-wing variety. Nearly two years later, January 6th still dominates headlines on a daily basis. However, attacks on our Capitol are hardly unprecedented. Member of the Weather Underground bombed the Capitol in 1971 and again in 1984. While the scale and number of participants may not be comparable, the ultimate goal of the Weathermen was to destabilize the federal government and initiate a socialist uprising. Today, you’d be hard pressed to find someone on the street who’s even heard of them. Rather than languishing in prison, the perpetrators of these attacks are now tenured professors, legal professionals, and influencers of education reform.

Brian Burrough did a spectacular job giving a matter-of-fact recounting of this time period. Ray Porter provides a very listenable performance. The review disparity between Burrough’s “Forget the Alamo” (which I’ve listened to) and this book speaks to a level of elitist hypocrisy. Similar to how the Alamo is a mythologized part of many a gun-toting conservative’s heritage, liberals shape their tradition around a romanticized narrative of the 60s and 70s. “Day of Rage” shines a spotlight on the unsavory events of that era many would prefer forgotten.

Forgotten Domestic Terrorists

grew up in the sunny 80s, and saw the flower power Woodstock theu halcyon lense portrayal of the early 70s. but I had an older colleague who said these were dangerous times. my interest was rekindled with Obama's friendship with bill Ayers. Burroughs has surfaced this important history before its burial by history.

Engrossing

Highly engrossing, meticulously researched, and brilliantly narrated. Brings to life the human side of the story, from all sides.

A good history lesson

I was a child during the times described in this book. I have only a vague recollection of talk of any bombs. Most likely I heard a bit on the news but probably didn’t hear my parents talk about it. I’m glad to have learned so much more about the people and the passion they felt even though I disagree with the tactics. I do agree that the world has gotten worse and what matters most is our kids and our kids kids. No easy answers...