The Insurrectionist

Peter Adams teaches at Old Dominion University. He is the author of The Bowery Boys: Street Corner Radicals and the Politics of Rebellion and Politics, Faith, and the Making of American Judaism.

The world has long needed a political biography of Edwin A. Walker, the army general turned conservative hellraiser. Peter Adams's new book delivers in spades. Not only does The Insurrectionist make an important contribution to the growing literature on right-wing extremism, but Adams connects Walker's conspiratorial worldview and reactionary politics to the conservative radicalism reverberating throughout America today." - John S. Huntington, author of Far-Right Vanguard: The Radical Roots of Modern Conservatism "In this well-researched and riveting book, Peter Adams shows that the racism, misinformation, paranoia, and violence of Edwin A. Walker have a long and ominous history in American politics and society. The Insurrectionist provides essential context for readers wanting to better understand the current assaults on democracy." - Tracy Campbell, author of The Year of Peril: America in 1942 "Edwin A. Walker's life, as Adams expertly shows, is a sobering tale about the rise of modern authoritarianism and antidemocratic fervor that helps us understand the complex roots of the attack on the U.S. Capitol by insurrectionists on January 6, 2021." - John Giggie, director, Summersell Center for the Study of the South at the University of Alabama "Based on in-depth archival research and theoretical insights, The Insurrectionist delivers crucial contexts for understanding the current assault on democratic institutions and thus for analyzing these forces in an epic and ongoing battle." - Orville Vernon Burton, coauthor of Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court