false 408549 3 Written with the sweep of an epic novel and grounded in extensive research into contemporary documents, Savage Peace is a striking portrait of American democracy under stress. It is the surprising story of America in the year 1919. In the aftermath of an unprecedented worldwide war and a flu pandemic, Americans began the year full of hope, expecting to reap the benefits of peace. But instead, the fear of terrorism filled their days. Bolshevism was the new menace, and the federal government, utilizing a vast network of domestic spies, began to watch anyone deemed suspicious. A young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover headed a brand-new intelligence division of the Bureau of Investigation (later to become the FBI). Bombs exploded on the doorstep of the attorney general's home in Washington, D.C., and 36 parcels containing bombs were discovered at post offices across the country. Poet and journalist Carl Sandburg, recently returned from abroad with a trunk full of Bolshevik literature, was detained in New York, his trunk seized. A 21-year-old Russian girl living in New York was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting U.S. intervention in Arctic Russia, where thousands of American soldiers remained after the Armistice, ostensibly to guard supplies but in reality to join a British force meant to be a warning to the new Bolshevik government. In 1919, wartime legislation intended to curb criticism of the government was extended and even strengthened. Labor strife was a daily occurrence. And decorated African-American soldiers, returning home to claim the democracy for which they had risked their lives, were badly disappointed. Lynchings continued, race riots would erupt in 26 cities before the year ended, and secret agents from the government's "Negro Subversion" unit routinely shadowed outspoken African-Americans. Adding a vivid human drama to the greater historical narrative, Savage Peace brings 1919 alive through the people who played a major role in making the year so remarkable. Among them are William Monroe Trotter, who tried to put democracy for African-Americans on the agenda at the Paris peace talks; Supreme Court associate justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who struggled to find a balance between free speech and legitimate government restrictions for reasons of national security, producing a memorable decision for the future of free speech in America; and journalist Ray Stannard Baker, confidant of President Woodrow Wilson, who watched carefully as Wilson's idealism crumbled and wrote the best accounts we have of the president's frustration and disappointment. Weaving together the stories of a panoramic cast of characters, from Albert Einstein to Helen Keller, Ann Hagedorn brilliantly illuminates America at a pivotal moment. - <i>Amazon.com Review 397853 10 4 2007 Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America, 1919 total:29|5:11|4:13|3:5|2:0|1:0| 29 122 70 12 4 1 false false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 11:59:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 12:05:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 16:54:58 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 18 03:36:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 26 11:41:26 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 11:49:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jun 12 12:06:57 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 21 08:54:58 -0800 2008 Thu Jun 12 12:06:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 1 false false Fri Jan 16 15:12:22 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 15:14:19 -0800 2009 5 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 09:12:37 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 09:13:27 -0800 2009 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 07:14:47 -0800 2008 Thu Sep 25 19:02:34 -0700 2008
Wow! We are often taught history as a series of wars, but that approach, of course, leaves out most of what we need to know. Savage Peace looks at post WWI America and the appalling civil...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jul 09 13:56:49 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 13:57:04 -0700 2009 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 31 04:00:02 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 04:02:02 -0800 2008 4 1 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 19 08:23:38 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 19 08:24:48 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Thu May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 09:35:09 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 09:36:08 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Sat Jan 05 14:11:31 -0800 2008 Thu May 31 20:17:44 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 03 12:16:51 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Tue Oct 13 13:52:33 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 13:52:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 19 05:00:42 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 05:04:23 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Sep 03 08:09:20 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 08:09:20 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Aug 10 08:04:32 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 08:04:32 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jun 17 14:09:25 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 14:09:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jun 06 03:07:47 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 03:07:47 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 04:52:33 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 05:28:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 24 20:11:47 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 19:57:03 -0700 2009