Top reviews from the United States

• 

  Wyckham D. Seelig

  5 out of 5 stars

  A Must Read Book

  Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2026

  Format: Hardcover

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  How do you demolish a lie? Especially a lie that has been around for a long time and has millions of passionate and articulate adherents who will leap to defeat and discredit any attempt to challenge it?

  That is the task that Noah Rothman has set for himself in his new book Blood and Progress. The lie in question is that “There is no such thing as left-wing political violence” and the passionate and articulate adherents include almost all Democrats in the U.S. along with major establishment media figures here and around the world.

  The approach that Mr. Rothman takes in this book is best described as empirical: he stacks up example after mind-numbing example of left-wing violence not just in recent days but over the last century. In the process he identifies characters like

  • Luigi Galleani who waged a mini-war against American capitalism and published manuals detailing bomb-making techniques for use in labor disputes in the early 1900’s. In 1919 he and his followers Carlo Valdinocci and Mario Buda mailed explosive devices to dozens of American political leaders including the mayor of Seattle, a Georgia senator and dozens of others including members of Congress, Cabinet

  • Nestor Dondoglio, a chef who in 1916 attempted to poison much of the political and private leadership in the state of Illinois at a dinner at the University of Chicago.

  • An unknown bomber, probably Mario Buda, who, on September 16,1920, exploded 100 pounds of dynamite in downtown New York near wall street that killed 38 people and injured hundreds of others. Pamphlets demanding release of political prisoners “or it will be sure death for all of you” and signed by the “Amerian Anarchist Fighters” were found near the site of the bombing.

  • Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti who were convicted of murdering a guard and a paymaster at an armed robbery to procure funds for terrorist activities.

  In more recent times, Mr. Rothman documents the emergence of more organized forms of violence, including the use of law-enforcement suppression sniper fire that killed 5 individuals in Detroit and 2 in Newark during the “hot-summer” riots of 1967. Speaking of these riots, leftist organizer Tom Hayden noted that “The conditions slowly are being created for the American form of guerilla warfare based in the slums”.

  Even more recently, of course, we have the assassination of Charlie Kirk and UHC CEO Brian Thompson, both of which left-wing commentators ambivalently characterized as “Wrong … but perhaps understandable or justified”.

  Mr. Rothman, to his credit, makes no attempt to minimize or gloss over, violence from the other side of the spectrum, documenting cases such as the Palmer raids during the second of the Wilson Presidency, the Oklahoma City bombing, the late 1980’s attacks on abortion clinics, and, of course, the January 6th election protest. Nor does he make any attempt to weigh the balance in an attempt to judge which side is worse. Rather, he notes that “Political violence exists on a continuum.” Both sides engage in it; it is wrong; and it is becoming increasingly dangerous.

  Will this book succeed? Yes and no. “Yes”, in the sense that it will provide fair-minded people, especially conservatives, with ammunition to level the playing field in discussions about political violence. But “No” in the sense that the left and their allies in the media will, and already are, constructing “yes, but” arguments that help them rationalize away their own sins. This is a pity, because the issue that Mr. Rothman is tackling here is transcendently important and deserves a far more thoughtful and introspective reading that it is likely to get from those quarters.

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• 

  J

  5 out of 5 stars

  A journey through the violent Left.

  Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2026

  Format: Kindle

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  An interesting, balanced review of America's left and their romantic attachment to revolutionary violence. This book was an enjoyable, quick read.

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• 

  R Gregg Miller

  1 out of 5 stars

  Clearly the author believes spilling blood is a small price to pay for “progress”.

  Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2026

  Format: Kindle

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  This book champions political violence while masquerading as a neutral portrayal of the subject. The author includes extensive quotes from an incredible array of ultra left-wing publications always ameliorating the progressive agenda as a reasonable response.

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• 

  Darrel Bishop

  5 out of 5 stars

  A Necessary Book about an Ignored, but Important History

  Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2026

  Format: Audiobook

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  I read this in conjunction with chapter 6 of Petra Goedde's The Politics of Peace which I found helpful in fully contextualizing chapters 3-5 of this book by providing a brief survey of the key theoretical frameworks that supported (and supports) the claimed legitimacy of left wing violence.

  Using a clear and well organized style, Rothman sheds light on the hypocrisy present in American discourse around political violence and who commits it. He argues persuasively that the American left is either unwilling to acknowledge their side commits violence or that if they do commit violence it is only defensive violence and is therefore justified. He used the discourse around the murder of Charlie Kirk as one example. Jimmy Kimmel said on air that "[the] MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and former Bernie Sanders press secretary Biahna Joy Gray saying that Kirk was capable of “extreme violence and bigotry against me” and anyone else who is “black or trans or an immigrant or Arab or a woman.” Preemption is, therefore, justified."

  Rothman chronicles the major movements and violent events perpetrated by the radical left starting at the turn of the twentieth century and traces them to their ideological forefathers in the French Revolution and organized labor movements. He dives into the myth making around the leftist terrorists such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Assata Shakur, Bill Ayers, Leonard Peltier, and others and how the myths managed to transmute murderers into romantic revolutionary heroes.

  Lest anyone should fault Mr. Rothman for ignoring political violence from the political right, he dedicates a chapter on right wing violence over the last decade. Rothman shows how the violent right has adopted and adapted the tactics and rhetorical frameworks of the left in pursuit of their own political ends. Rothman does not shy away from discussing President Donald Trump's encouragement and approval of political violence to his benefit throughout the course of his political career.

  Rothman does not merely provide a description of political violence in America, but also offers some prescriptions as well. Among those are an apolitical tone from law enforcement, an allergy to the idea that political violence is the result of material hardship, and responsibility from the elite class who have tended to catastrophize for gain.

  The value in this book is it is sober map of the history of leftist political violence in America and how it shapes the contours of current American politics.

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  2 people found this helpful

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• 

  JR

  5 out of 5 stars

  An objective look at violence in America

  Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2026

  Format: Kindle

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  It’s a shame we don’t teach American History anymore. If we did, then people would know about the left-wing bombing and assassination campaigns of the 1910s-1920s, the left-wing assassination program of the 1930s, the Chicago riot of 1968 and SDS and Weathermen of the 1960s-70s,. They would then be able to relate them to Occupy Wall Street, the CHAZ zone in Seattle, the Hands up Don’t shoot and the Charlottesville “they are good people” lie, George Floyd’s spurious deification, etc. They would see that the socialist, communist political left in America has a long history of civic violence, and they would see through the Democrat assertion that most social violence is committed by the conservative right.

  This book is an unusually well researched view of these events which assesses both left- and right-wing provides the reader with a clear view, and appropriate perspective, on the history of political violence in America.

  It is well written and reads like a novel.

  If you want to poke your head up and out of the incessant spin foisted by the contemporary media on all sides, and understand what is actually happening in America today, then I strongly recommend you read this book.

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  13 people found this helpful

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• 

  Dee Arnold

  5 out of 5 stars

  A Must Read Left Wing Violence and How it Gets Normalized Needs To Stop

  Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2026

  Format: Hardcover

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  Blood and Progress is one of those rare books that feels like it wrote itself as events continue to unfold in the world today, making its message impossible to ignore. Rothman does an incredible job connecting historical left-wing political violence to the chaos and extremism we continue to see in the world. From past revolutionary movements to current events and figures like Charlie Kirk, the parallels can’t be ignored.

  What makes this book so compelling is that it doesn’t just rehash history it explains how patterns repeat themselves, how violence gets rationalized, and how political culture can slowly normalize extremism. Rothman’s writing is sharp, well-researched, and incredibly readable.

  Whether you agree with every conclusion or not, this is the kind of book that forces you to think critically and look at current events through a much broader historical lens. It could not be more timely. Blood and Progress is a great read, an important read, and one of those books that genuinely leaves you smarter after finishing it.

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  Dee Arnold

  5 out of 5 stars

  A Must Read Left Wing Violence and How it Gets Normalized Needs To Stop

  Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2026

  Format: Hardcover

  Blood and Progress is one of those rare books that feels like it wrote itself as events continue to unfold in the world today, making its message impossible to ignore. Rothman does an incredible job connecting historical left-wing political violence to the chaos and extremism we continue to see in the world. From past revolutionary movements to current events and figures like Charlie Kirk, the parallels can’t be ignored.

  What makes this book so compelling is that it doesn’t just rehash history it explains how patterns repeat themselves, how violence gets rationalized, and how political culture can slowly normalize extremism. Rothman’s writing is sharp, well-researched, and incredibly readable.

  Whether you agree with every conclusion or not, this is the kind of book that forces you to think critically and look at current events through a much broader historical lens. It could not be more timely. Blood and Progress is a great read, an important read, and one of those books that genuinely leaves you smarter after finishing it.

  • 

  10 people found this helpful

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• 

  Free Thinker

  5 out of 5 stars

  Brilliant and much needed expose on how the Progressive Left promotes violence

  Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2026

  Format: Kindle

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  An important book for the present day that chronicles the dangerous history of far Left violence through the decades, including the far Left’s support for anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist racism and terrorism.

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  6 people found this helpful

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• 

  KimmieJ

  1 out of 5 stars

  What a tool

  Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026

  Format: Audiobook

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  What bunk. He plays fear and ignorance towards the McCarthy era, the plan, lynching, mass school shootings that usually are done by white right leaning men, just to name a few of historic events.

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  3 people found this helpful

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