Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young by Zayd Ayers Dohrn (3/28/2026)
As a high school student of the late sixties, I remember the radicals of the day, the SDS, Weather Underground, Black Panthers, and absolutely loved this book. What a novel approach to the history of the time, an insider who grew up inside revolution. Zayd Dohrn does not gloss over what his parents did or view their actions with rose colored glasses. His story is factual and with great heart.
The parents' history is captivating, coming full circle from revolutionary to members of society, always having the desire to make the world a better place. The commitment to the cause no matter what the cost to themselves was bewildering. But their reasoning, which I still do not get, is not the point. The point is that they believed what they were doing would change the world for the better. Their cause was bigger than themselves. The story of Bernardine Dorhn, her fellow activists and husband Bill Ayers is a totally engrossing story.
Zayd Dohrn is a wonderful storyteller. This is not a child's story of funny family memories. This is the story of the radical politics of the 1960's as you have never heard it. What a timely book for the times we are living in now, 2026.
