The Broken Heart of America

St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States

By: Walter Johnson

Narrated by: Jamie Renell

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

A searing portrait of the racial dynamics that lie inescapably at the heart of our nation, told through the turbulent history of the city of St. Louis.

From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nation's past.

St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor Black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal. But it was once also America's most radical city, home to anti-capitalist immigrants, the Civil War's first general emancipation, and the nation's first general strike—a legacy of resistance that endures.

A blistering history of a city's rise and decline, The Broken Heart of America will forever change how we think about the United States.

©2020 Walter Johnson (P)2020 Basic Books

Critic reviews

"Although focused primarily on the history of St. Louis and surrounding areas, this well researched and thoroughly documented work is too important to be dismissed as a strictly regional history. Highly recommended for all readers interested in American history."—Los Angeles Review of Books

"When it comes to the history of racism and exclusion in the United States, St. Louis wasn't unique...what it was, Johnson says, was more extreme.... Johnson is a spirited and skillful rhetorician, juggling a slew of historical facts while never allowing the flame of his anger to dim.... As he ably shows, so much exploitation lies in the details."—New York Times

"The Broken Heart of America is an outraged dissection of a malignant pattern Johnson discerns in the way white St. Louis treated Native Americans and then Blacks.... Comprehensive and convincing in its particulars."—Boston Globe

Sad & True,With Fascinating Facts of St.Louis Past

Particularly in first five Chapters, there are relatively unknown facts from 19th Century that amazed me. Those points also provided a continuation of the negative racial justice thread in history, backwards, from which most St. Louisans are already aware.

The narrator, though excellent in reading skills, unfotunately did not do his due diligence on St. Louis street, town and people pronunciations. For someone from St. louis, it is a distraction to wince with each new wrongly rer ad proper noun. To prepare a potential reader, here are attempts at a phonetic few: St. LooEEzans, Mayor Vincent SHOWmul, FloriSAHNT LinDELL and CarondeLAY.

The book itself was a very thorough coverage of major racial events over St. Louis history. Many readers from the region will recognize most of those but also be greatly surprised by others. Excellent research on even the most minor details. This includes Kirkwood's astonishing reduction of the number of streets leading out ofthe Meacham Park community. The pre-annex number of exits/entries was nine. The nine were reduced to a single legal entry/exit for the past 29 years.

Who was St. Louise?

I found the format of this book to be exceptional, the way the author tied the past to the present using St. Louis as an example of what has occurred in numerous cities across this country. I grew up in the suburbs, not far from Kirkwood and Webster Groves yet still learned quite a bit about my hometown which caused me to reconsider some of the events that transpired during my childhood. Yes, the narrator's (not the author's!) pronunciation is comical, but don't let that detract from the message. While he stumbles badly on Carondelet, Florissant, Laclede, Sauget, Schoemehl, St. Louisan and Vashon, at least give him credit for getting Cairo and Gravois right.

Should be required listening in St Louis

Fantastic book. I learned so much about my city. As a white person, it has me reevaluating a lot of my values. The only criticism I have is the reader mispronounces a lot of (admittedly bastardized) St Louis names. He has a great voice though and is really easy to listen to.

Listen: ONLY IF YOU WANT CHANGE AND TRUTH

The author, Walter Johnson, has a unique way of building the historical policy/prejudiced based narrative of policy creation, historic grievances, and such while leading the reader to an catharsis of previously known information that is newly discovered at the same time. As a black resident of the city of East St Louis, I can undoubtedly affirm all this states.

ONLY READ THIS is your sensitivity can be set aside for reformation. ONLY READ THIS, if you want change for what could be a great region. ONLY READ this if you have the grit to digest truth and the willingness to be silent, grieve inwardly, and reflect without accusation.

If you can qualify your heart per the above qualifiers, then read away, change the narrative and help divert the black exodus of St. Louis along with the exportation of its business leaders, ideas etc!

Outstanding!

A fantastic telling of an American City. It filled in a lot gaps in my knowledge of the Midwest. The story & performance were both excellent!

She be Required Reading for all Elected Officials

This book opened my eyes to all of the "unspoken" parameters of all deals made in St. Louis. The rich manipulate wealth to make sure it flows One Way., and made off the backs of poor people. systemic racism at the highest level of precision occurs in STL. Even in 2020..ESPECIALLY in 2020!

Shocking

I went to school in the 1960s in St. Louis, Homer G Phillips. I am from Michigan and because of segregation could not attend close to home. Dr. Venable taught my Opthalmology class, never knew that he was an activist. I was there when they started the Arch. I had no idea of the history Of the neighborhood that was destroyed to create it. I managed to see Gaslight Square while it was thriving. I knew we were in the colored hospital in a poor section, but the operation was impeccable in spite of not having the same amenities as City #1. This was heartbreaking to listen too on many levels. My experience there was awesome but some of the names and places, held no significance until now. Great narration, loved the way he tied the history to today’s events. Truly eye opening, even East St. Louis, crossed those bridges many time, never knew the trauma and horror of the area as most places in US. I appreciate having been there and now learning the history. Good book.

Absolutely mesmerizing!

Thank you for writing this book. I loved it. I learned so much. More informative & entertaining than any history class. Upon reading this, I realize how whitewashed my historical education was. This book is changing my understanding not only of history, but also our culture (way beyond St. Louis), our future, and how deeply entrenched white supremacy is in the foundation of USA. Thankfully, the author lists some good community resources to which I will be donating. 💜

Solid History, Well Written, Purposely Subjective

It took me a while to gather the courage to listen to this book. I heard and read reviews of the book and thought I would find it objectionable based on my worldview. But I was curious. I listened to the entire book and was happy that I did. I found it very interesting to hear the history of my home city from a different perspective. I actually learned a lot.

Johnson clearly wrote this book as a counterbalance to mainstream history, For that I am grateful. Having said that, his lens narrowed to the point of being absurd. When one looks at everything through the lens of race, class and violence, everything is racist, supremist, etc. It ends up sounding a bit like a "woke" conspiracy theory or elitist victim narrative where the victim has no agency.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys multiple perspectives on a topic. It is well written and presented and even the uninitiated will pick up on the strong bias.

Liberal interpretation of facts

Overall this is a great book to listen to on tape. Albeit with a few mispronunciations the reader conveys the words well. The facts presented are alarming and should be used by many to better understand St Louis’ problems. His statements about Michael Brown and witness statements are actually false. If one reads the trial transcripts you would know that. It is brash and dangerous to knowingly present false statements as fact and tarnishes whit otherwise was an d critic ally interesting presentation. As an aside his father was my Econ professor at MIZZOU, I’m sure he would be proud if his son.