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)

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.

Sneering, unobjective tone

What would have made Days of Rage better?

Burrough took a very interesting topic, did a great deal of research and could have written a great book about it. Alas, he did not. The sneering tone of much of his analysis diminishes his credibility to the point where the listener/reader cannot trust his analysis and reportage. Very unbalanced.

The focus on Bernadine Dohrn's sexuality and physical attractiveness got tiresome -- and more than a little bit creepy.

Would you ever listen to anything by Bryan Burrough again?

Probably not.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

He did a sincere interpretation of the snide, unobjective book, but at some points even seemed to exaggerate it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It's an interesting bit of history -- and the book did keep me interested, but I would choose a different book if I were a reader new to the subject.

An important book

This book gives clarity into the politics of the Democrat Party, President Obama and the path Hillary Clinton will pursue if elected. THE REVOLUTION OF THE RADICAL CONTINUES WITH GROWING SUCCESS. Through the Democrat Party and with the first black president, radicals like Bill Ayers have managed to bore themselves into the belly of their perceived beast. Capitalism and THE USA. 🇺🇸

Students Beware! Not a good choice for a paper.

Poor research. Did not give surrounding historical perspective to sited events. Strong bias. Omitted views from people who he names giving thin excuses, even where there is significant other public statements which they happily provided.

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.

Great book on a little-discussed chapter of American culture

Great book on the after effects of the 60s movements with which we are so familiar.
Great book

Fantastic can't believe this all happened and they get a slap on the hands!!!!

Great read/listen and these are the professors in the colleges/universities now teaching our kids go figure

Incredible forgotten history of the terrorist left!

First and most important, the reader is fantastic make the book an easy listen. Second, the author goes out of his way to give the point of view of the radicals that were doing the bombing, making this a history not a political rant. Third, the scope of the terror unleashed, the deranged and unrepentant views of the participants will leave you wondering what they've been up to while at "peace" and what would happen if a new generation were so inclined. Scary but fascinating-I highly recommend!

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.

Great book about a much forgotten time

What made the experience of listening to Days of Rage the most enjoyable?

This book is sort of a non-political look into a truly unique time in American history that is all but forgotten to anyone who didn't actually live through it. And, even then, most have forgotten. Really well written and read.

Great book

Very thoroughly researched and well written. I was also very impressed with the author’s objectivity. Overdue book as little of quality has been written on the subject.

A+

Packed with details and low on judgements this is a a fascinating account of a different age of strife. Well worth listening to twice.