Army of the Republic by Stuart Archer Cohen

22nd January, 2010 1 Comment

After some trial and error with regards to being asked to review specific books, I finally found a policy that works for me.  Basically, I’m willing to look at the book but there’s no guarantee that I’ll review it.  It’s not that I’m against sharing bad reviews or feel obligated to only give good reviews in exchange for free books.  What I’m hoping to do with posting a majority of positive reviews is to inspire readers to both pick up a book and to do something as a result of reading it that will enrich their lives.  Neither negative nor blazé reviews do that very well. 

The first book I stipulated this “no agreement until I can flip through it” arrangement with was The Army of the Republic.  Reading the synopsis and background of the sales, it just didn’t seem like a book I would like. 

Fascinated by the revolutionary impulse he witnessed during business trips to South America, Stuart began to wonder what similar movements would look like here in the United States.  His research for THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC required numerous interviews with former revolutionaries in Argentina, Buenos Aires police who were active in the ’70s, CIA members, former ’60s radicals and present-day student activists to get an idea of how and why an insurgency forms, the course it can take, and the effects on the individuals within them.

Stuart Archer Cohen’s THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC (Picador Trade Paperback; October 2009) is set in a dark alternate America–one that we have seen actual glimmers of over the past few tumultuous years.  It is run by a corrupt government with designs to privatize public resources, and to silence dissent with a ruthless secret security force.  But as the plans of greedy politicians and their corporate cronies begin to see the light of day, and dissenters are abducted and silenced, the citizens can no longer ignore the writing on the wall. 

While I wasn’t taken with the premise and the feeling of a John Grisham thriller, it didn’t sound bad–just not my thing. So I would take a look and not let assumptions guide my decision.  A week after finishing and digesting the book, after almost blowing off social engagements to keep reading, and telling friends they HAD to read this book, I can say I’m glad I didn’t listen to the assumptions in my head.

My basic sales pitch to friends is that the book is like Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother…for adults.  Or Watchmen in novel form without the superheros.  The setting is a slightly different now or near future, but one that is believable because we see it beginning to take shape every day as eight-year-olds end up on airport watch lists and limitations on campaign financing are removed. 

The book explores what it means to be a revolutionary versus a terrorist.  Oscar Wilde is known for, among other things, having said, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”  The truth about history is that it is written by the winners.  A person can be a revolutionary and a terrorist–it just depends on which side of the struggle you are on.  Case in point, the Boston Tea Party was, by modern standards, an act of terrorism.

It is also looking into who has the voice of the people, the majority?  Minority?  What if the people don’t use their voices?  What if the media obscures their voices?  What if vigilantes are just enforcing their own will?  In the end, the message is to pay attention–don’t be blinded by branding and be aware that much of what is said in the media is crafted and manipulated to influence you.  You have to make a decision and do something about it rather than hoping things will change or that someone will fight for you.  Most importantly, don’t fall into a false sense of complacency.

It’s not easy to make those decisions and stand up for what you believe is right when you recognize that you could be hurt, tortured, or killed by the other side–especially when the other side has more power, more money, and more media influence than you.  But people have done it to free nations and fight for equal rights even if it meant having fire hoses turned on them, getting trampled in riots, or going to war.

So remember, pay attention–gather facts from multiple sources and make your own conclusions.  Don’t rely on other people to tell you what’s going on in the world or what side to take.  And more importantly, don’t expect others to fight for you.  As Pastor Niemöller said in his famous poem, “Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out.”

Buy The Army of the Republic.  It’s a predictable template with clear changes of voice and rationalized points of view for each narrator.  But it is captivating. thought provoking, and a little fighting when you think about the changes and direction America has been taking.  And it will make you pay attention.

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