Christian Anarchist

Christian Anarchist shows how the many disparate elements from Hennacy’s family and cultural background—from Quakerism to the Baptist tradition to socialism, to dietary reform to a kind of spirit of independent yeomanry—informed his engagement with a world he was determined to change. Marling evokes Ammon Hennacy’s iconoclastic yet reverent life very faithfully. Will be an important contribution to the literature of the twentieth-century U.S. radicalism. -- James Fisher, co-editor, The Catholic Studies Reader Thought-provoking and rich, Christian Anarchist offers a close look at a deeply challenging and inspiring figure in US history, locating Hennacy in a squarely American context and providing an angle on a Catholic and otherwise religious and radical leftism that has often been overlooked in US intellectual and political history. Beautiful and profound, Marling presents a stark challenge to the definitions of radicalism, activism, and Catholicism. -- John Seitz, Fordham University Ammon Hennacy’s lifetime of uncompromising commitment to Christian pacifist anarchism is long overdue for the rich examination Marling provides. Marling uncovers the leftist icon’s unsettled personal life, humanizing Hennacy’s Sisyphean search for real-life heroes and occasional mythmaking. Hennacy’s praxis of speaking truth and embodying his ideals are highlighted by Marling, who illuminates an extraordinary life that few dared to, or could, equal. -- Brian D. Haley, author of Ammon Hennacy and the Hopi Traditionalist Movement: Roots of the Counterculture’s Favorite Indians