The explosive true story of the rise and unraveling of the Earth Liberation Front,
a secret group of radicals who carried out the most audacious series of politically motivated arsons in American history — and the relentless federal hunt to bring them down.
"Masterful reporting. As riveting as any thriller. Reads like a nonfiction novel starring idealistic radicals, righteously incensed by environmental injustice, on a doomed trajectory toward confrontation with the capitalist state. A forgotten prequel to 9/11 that couldn't be more relevant today."—Seth Harp, New York Times bestselling author of The Fort Bragg Cartel
Nonfiction as Film Noir
"Cinematic, suspenseful, totally immersive. This is nonfiction as film noir. Matthew Wolfe's unbelievably meticulous reporting puts us inside the minds and meetings of a secretive group fighting, as they see it, for the life of the planet."—Zoë Schlanger, New York Times bestselling author of The Light Eaters
This Book Is a Marvel
"At once a cinematically propulsive narrative, a herculean feat of reporting, and a sweeping work of modern environmental history. Wolfe has taken a great, fearless bite out of the American soul, and it burns."—Robert Moor, New York Times bestselling author of On Trails and In Trees
A Riveting Story
"A riveting story of what happened when they tried to spark a political awakening in America, and a brilliant meditation on how a social movement draws its own moral lines."—Eric Klinenberg, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Modern Romance and author of Palaces for the People
Readers Will Be Rapt
"A fascinating history of the Earth Liberation Front. Wolfe captures the urgency that gave rise to the group and poses potent questions about the ethical boundaries of extremism."—Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Matthew Wolfe is a journalist and sociologist whose reporting has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and The New Republic. He holds a PhD in sociology from NYU and is a postdoctoral fellow at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge.