A RENEGADE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Whew! What a book! The author’s thesis is that America’s search for freedom has been defined throughout our history by an ongoing battle of lifestyle between the lumpenproletariat— the destitute, whores, slaves, drunks, roustabouts, day laborers, and utterly uneducated dregs of society—and the moral arbiters from the self-sanctified strata, the crème de la crème. Russell writes with force and scathing humor. Narrator Paul Boehmer accurately delivers his tone, at the same time sounding intrigued by the unusual topics. He attempts various voices and accents and does a pretty good job at them. It’s hard to put this down. Renegade, indeed! D.R.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2011]