Richard Kreitner is a contributing writer to The Nation. He is the author of Booked: A Traveler's Guide to Literary Locations Around the World.
"Break It Up is at once extremely well written, deeply incisive
about the prevalence of disunionist thought and movements
throughout American history, and a passionate call for us today to
reflect and reconsider some of our basic political commitments.
Everyone interested in the past, present, and future of the United
States would profit from closely reading and then discussing
Richard Kreitner's truly provocative and challenging
book."--Sanford Levinson, co-author of Fault Lines in the
Constitution
"An eye-opening chronicle of separatist movements within the
U.S.... makes a strong case that the impulse to dissolve the union
will always resonate."--Publishers Weekly
"As politicians and pundits lament polarization and partisanship,
this fiery and fresh exploration of the idea of disunion across
four centuries helps us understand how today's fractured landscape
is not a new development, but a return, as Kreitner writes, to the
'ever-present battle over the past and for the future'-and for the
soul of America."
--Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editorial Director and Publisher of The
Nation
"Generations of Americans have been taught that our political
system is an ideal balance that works wonderfully well. Today it's
becoming increasingly difficult to believe that. In this climate,
Break It Up is perfectly timed. It tells us where our national
experiment went wrong - and proposes a boldly appealing
alternative."--Stephen Kinzer, BostonGlobe columnist and author of
Poisoner in Chief
"If you think the United States only recently became fractious,
fractured, and fragmented, Break It Up will shake you up. Richard
Kreitner tells us a fresh, unsettling, and persistently
entertaining story of disunity and secession as the great American
way. From the colonial period through the Revolutionary War,
familiar landmarks of founding history are seen a new light. The
secessionism of the Confederacy takes on unexpected qualities, as
do 20th century black separatism, the 1960's counterculture, and
feminism, among other things. This book will change what you
thought you knew."--William Hogeland, author of Autumn of the Black
Snake
"If you thought disunion was an invention of the slave South and is
long dead and buried, think again. In Break It Up, Richard Kreitner
offers a powerful revisionist account of the troubled history of
the American nation, showing how secessionist movements have made
their appearance at numerous times, and in numerous parts of the
country. They are again proliferating today - a reflection of our
polarized politics and culture and our failure to make the existing
Union benefit all Americans."--Eric Foner, Columbia University,
author of The Fiery Trial
"Kreitner effectively cleans the window that stands between us and
our history--or what we believed about our history...richly
researched, revelatory, disturbing, and essential to those
wandering in the mists of American myth."--Kirkus, starred
"Richard Kreitner's Break It Up is an intelligent, fascinating and
important look at the long history of secessionist movements in the
United States. From before the Revolution and the Civil War to the
rise of Trump, these such deunionist efforts have sought to break
up the United States in different ways and parts. While breaking up
the nation makes little sense, these lessons of these movements
carry with them a kernel of wisdom. Ours is a federalist system and
Americans vote not just with the ballot but with our feet. We may
be better able to salve our differences and coexist as a nation of
different political persuasions by shifting power from our
increasingly dysfunctional federal government to states and
localities."--Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative
Class
"The United States have seldom been wholeheartedly united, as
Richard Kreitner shows in this often surprising history of
disunity, from Northern secession plans before the Civil War to
plots for California's independence and a Singapore-style free New
York City. The book is engaging and historically rich, and adds up
to a new story of the country, one that opens questions about
whether we belong together at all."--Jedediah Purdy, Columbia
University and author of This Land is Our Land: The Struggle for a
New Commonwealth
"This book reminds us of the important roles compromise and
contention have played in American history...Kreitner's incisive
analysis delves into how secession, division and other forces that
separate Americans have played into the nation's history."
--St. Louis Dispatch
"Break It Up is a paradigm-transforming accomplishment. It finds an
entire new story to tell about the sweep of American history, one
that happens to be far truer to the actuality of that history than
the story it replaces. I don't know if I've ever been more excited
to endorse a new book."--Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland and
Nixonland
"A compelling narrative on the politics of secession in American
history. Kreitner deftly explains the historical continuums and
predicaments of the states. This book offers a powerful and
refreshing account on disunity in America and helps us understand
more about today's political fragmentation under state and national
governments." --Library Journal
"Kreitner challenges readers to rethink what the Union means to us
and how we can help it live up to its highest
ideals."--Bookpage
"Kreitner's new book is an extremely readable, ambitiously
wide-ranging history of all the times Americans have seriously
contemplated breaking freeof the United States."--Slate
"Provocative...Most rewarding is [Kreitner's] integration of the
West into the national narrative."--Eric Herschthal, The New
Republic
"Richly anecdotal, vital account"--O Magazine
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