“A provocative history” of intrigue and class struggle in Ancient Rome—“an important alternative to the usual views of Caesar and the Roman Empire” (Publishers Weekly).
 
Most historians, both ancient and modern, have viewed the Late Republic of Rome through the eyes of its rich nobility—the 1 percent of the population who controlled 99 percent of the empire’s wealth. In The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti recounts this period, spanning the years 100 to 33 BC, from the perspective of the Roman people. In doing so, he presents a provocative, trenchantly researched narrative of popular resistance against a powerful elite.
 
As Parenti carefully weighs the evidence concerning the murder of Caesar, he adds essential context to the crime with fascinating details about Roman society as a whole. In these pages, we find reflections on the democratic struggle waged by Roman commoners, religious augury as an instrument of social control, the patriarchal oppression of women, and the political use of homophobic attacks. The Assassination of Julius Caesar offers a whole new perspective on an era thought to be well-known.
 
“A highly accessible and entertaining addition to history.” —Book Marks

A clarion call for taking back the American Revolution from the far right, published for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

Who gets to claim the legacy of the American Revolution and the mantle of patriotism that goes along with it? In a sharp, irreverent, deeply informed account of the nation’s founding moment and its enduring legacies, historian Thomas Richards Jr. invites us to see the Revolution not just as a one-time fight for political freedom from Britain but as an ongoing struggle for equality, justice, and social and political independence for all Americans.

A riveting work of narrative history, The Unfinished Business of 1776 shows that the Revolutionary struggle did not end in 1787 when the Constitution was ratified: Across nine dramatic chapters, Richards introduces readers to the vividly drawn characters who kept the Revolution alive for the next century and beyond, including the women’s rights advocate Judith Sargent Murray, the enslaved rebel Gabriel, the economic reformer Solomon Sharp, and the religious visionary Joseph Smith—each pushing for freedoms that extended well beyond the traditional narrative of the Revolution, and each revealing how the unfinished work of 1776 fueled demands for economic, social, and legal equality that lasted well beyond the Revolution itself.

A myth-busting book about the history we think we know, The Unfinished Business of 1776 is the perfect antidote to jingoistic celebrations of America—offering an inclusive vision of our common past.

A master class in social change—how a coalition of parents, activists, and prison officials brought a racist and destructive institution to its knees

“Nell Bernstein’s book could be for juvenile justice what Rachel Carson’s book was for the environmental movement.” —Andrew Cohen, correspondent, ABC News, about Bernstein’s Burning Down the House

Over the past twenty years, one state after another has shuttered its youth prisons and stopped prosecuting kids as adults, slashing the number of children locked in cages by a stunning 75 percent. How did this remarkable change come about? In the follow-up to her 2014 award-winning book Burning Down the House, journalist Nell Bernstein offers an eye-opening and inspiring look at the forces that converged to move us from a moral panic about “juvenile superpredators” in the 1990s to a time in which the youth prison is rapidly fading from view.

In Our Future We Are Free begins and ends with the imprisoned youth who took a leading role in their own liberation. Through vivid profiles, Bernstein chronicles the tireless work of young activists, parents, litigators, researchers, and journalists to expose and challenge the racist brutality of youth prisons, as well as the surprising story of prison officials who worked from the inside to close their institutions for good. In a welcome “good news” account of positive change, this gripping story describes how communities are pursuing safety, rehabilitation, and accountability outside of locked institutions, and offers a model for how the United States might overcome its addiction to incarceration.

A veritable master class in social change, In Our Future We Are Free is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how large-scale transformation is possible.

NOW IN PAPERBACK  The book the American Prospect calls “an essential resource for future reformers on how not to govern,” by America’s leading defender of the public interest and a bestselling historian

“An essential read for those who want to fight the assault on public goods and the commons.” —Naomi Klein

A sweeping exposé of the ways in which private interests strip public goods of their power and diminish democracy, the hardcover edition of The Privatization of Everything elicited a wide spectrum of praise: Kirkus Reviews hailed it as “a strong, economics-based argument for restoring the boundaries between public goods and private gains,” Literary Hub featured the book on a Best Nonfiction list, calling it “a far-reaching, comprehensible, and necessary book,” and Publishers Weekly dubbed it a “persuasive takedown of the idea that the private sector knows best.”

From Diane Ravitch (“an important new book about the dangers of privatization”) to Heather McGhee (“a well-researched call to action”), the rave reviews mirror the expansive nature of the book itself, covering the impact of privatization on every aspect of our lives, from water and trash collection to the justice system and the military. Cohen and Mikaelian also demonstrate how citizens can—and are—wresting back what is ours: A Montana city took back its water infrastructure after finding that they could do it better and cheaper. Colorado towns fought back well-funded campaigns to preserve telecom monopolies and hamstring public broadband. A motivated lawyer fought all the way to the Supreme Court after the state of Georgia erected privatized paywalls around its legal code.

“Enlightening and sobering” (Rosanne Cash), The Privatization of Everything connects the dots across a wide range of issues and offers what Cash calls “a progressive voice with a firm eye on justice [that] can carefully parse out complex issues for those of us who take pride in citizenship.”

“A vital resource for progressives who want to win.” —Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

“Progressive activists will want to dog-ear, underline, and pore over this well-conceived handbook.” —Kirkus Reviews

How do underdogs, facing far stronger opponents, sometimes win? In the tradition of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s Practical Radicals offers winning strategies, history, and theory for a new generation of activists.

Based on interviews with leading organizers, Practical Radicals combines “the hard-earned wisdom of our movement ancestors, the rigorous theory of serious practitioners and academics and the functional tools organizers need to spring into action” (In These Times). Incorporating stories of organizations and movements that have won, including Make the Road NY, the St. Paul Federation of Educators, the welfare rights movement, the Working Families Party, New Georgia Project, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, the Fight for 15, and Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Practical Radicals “takes inspiration from successful social movements to identify tactics that pay off.” (The Guardian).

With a sweeping new afterword by the authors addressing the challenges of 2025 and beyond, the authors explore how the seven strategies the book highlights can provide a toolkit for underdogs looking both to resist authoritarianism and to win alternatives. At a time of immense uncertainty inside the United States, “this crucial book is for everyone who cares about the future of racial, gender, and economic justice and the future of democracy.” (Dorian Warren, president of Community Change).