The best books on mob violence

Zachary M. Schrag Author Of The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation
By Zachary M. Schrag

Who am I?

I am fortunate not to have witnessed any major riots myself; the worst I’ve endured was a 1993 street fight in Moscow between parading Communists and the police, with bricks on one side and clubs and water cannon on the other. But even a relatively gentle protest march that draws a police response can be an astonishing spectacle, transforming a familiar, modern city into a medieval battlefield of massed crowds confronting armored men on horseback. And I am fascinated by the place of crowd actions in democratic societies. The right to assemble is embedded in our constitution, but there’s a fine line between public expression and mob rule.

I wrote...

The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation

By Zachary M. Schrag

Book cover of The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation

What is my book about?

A gripping and masterful account of the moment one of America's founding cities turned on itself, giving the nation a preview of the Civil War to come.

America is in a state of deep unrest, grappling with xenophobia, racial, and ethnic tension on a national scale that feels singular to our time. But it also echoes the earliest anti-immigrant sentiments of the country. In 1844, Philadelphia was set aflame by a group of Protestant ideologues—avowed nativists—who were seeking social and political power rallied by charisma and fear of the immigrant menace.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

The Books I Picked & Why

The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America

By Barnet Schecter

Book cover of The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America

Why this book?

The four days of deadly fighting that shook New York City in July 1863 are best known as the Civil War Draft Riots, but they combined multiple, overlapping grievances. While some men rioted in outrage that poor men must fight while rich men could buy an exemption, others seized the chance to lynch African Americans, settle old political scores, loot shops, or smash the grain elevators and street-sweeping machines they blamed for their unemployment. Schecter connects the intimate, block-by-block events of a riot with the largest debates facing the nation, helping to explain the ultimate disappointment of Reconstruction.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and Its Threat to Democracy

By Cherian George

Book cover of Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and Its Threat to Democracy

Why this book?

Unscrupulous leaders often stir up mob violence in service to their own ambitions, taking offense at slights that they could choose to shrug off. George charges such groups as the Bharatiya Janata Party in India, the Front Pembela Islam in Indonesia, and ACT! for America in the United States with pursuing power, money, and attention by shrieking that a blasphemous cartoon, a multicultural textbook, or a new house of worship threatens the dominant religion. “Explosions of righteous indignation and incitement are more than the hysteria of mad mullahs and enraged mobs,” argues George. He reminds us to look past the young men throwing rocks and find the movement leaders who stand to gain.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Among the Thugs

By Bill Buford

Book cover of Among the Thugs

Why this book?

Whatever rhetoric leaders deploy, they depend on others—usually teenagers and young men—who will fight for the joy of it. “Violence is one of the most intensely lived experiences,” writes Buford. “For those capable of giving themselves over to it, is one of the most intense pleasures.” He reaches this conclusion after years of observing the largely apolitical English football hooligans who follow their favorite teams around Europe, plundering and brawling as they go. The crime is brutal and pointless, but, Buford explains, the thugs thrill to the mayhem, the naughtiness, and the sound of broken glass. 

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Tear Gas: From the Battlefields of World War I to the Streets of Today

By Anna Feigenbaum

Book cover of Tear Gas: From the Battlefields of World War I to the Streets of Today

Why this book?

Democratic governments want to control riots, but they are generally reluctant to use firearms against crowds that include nonviolent protestors and wholly passive bystanders. When chemists developed gas weapons during World War I, army officers argued that irritants—colloquially known as tear gas—could solve the dilemma: forcing crowds to disperse without inflicting permanent injury. But as Feigenbaum shows, tear gas was never as simple, effective, or harmless as its promoters claimed. And no technological fix can reconcile the rights to security and protest.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio

By Derf Backderf

Book cover of Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio

Why this book?

In May 1970, Kent, Ohio, witnessed four days of violence, from a rampage downtown that left fifty-six store windows smashed, to the shooting of thirteen Kent State University students by the Ohio National Guard. To tell this story, cartoonist Backderf blends his craft with the historian’s. And it works: The same visual conventions that render the deeds of superheroes also effectively portray historic violence. Relying on oral histories, official investigations, and photographs as sources, Backderf depicts punches and kicks, the grins of victors and the grimaces of the vanquished, and the accompanying sounds: Pop! Crak! Bang! Crash! While contemptuous of the Guard’s senior leadership, he nonetheless takes care to present multiple points of view.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Closely Related Book Lists

The best books about the Vietnam War from different POVs

Andrew Wiest Author Of The Boys of '67: Charlie Company's War in Vietnam Andrew Wiest

The best crime mystery books with unconventional characters

James Fouche Author Of Jack Hanger James Fouche

The best books about how nature talks to us

Deb Vanasse Author Of Roar of the Sea: Treachery, Obsession, and Alaska's Most Valuable Wildlife Deb Vanasse

The best books to safely satisfy your lust for action and mystery

Marvin J. Wolf Author Of M-9: A Chelmin and Spaulding CID Mystery Marvin J. Wolf

Distantly Related Book Lists

The best books to help us think of others and want to help others

Don LePan Author Of Animals Don LePan

The best memoirs of lost childhood

John Wilson Author Of Lands of Lost Content: A Memoir John Wilson

The best books on humans and their relationship with nature

Bathsheba Demuth Author Of Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait Bathsheba Demuth

The best books about the tragedy of war

Denis Dragovic Author Of No Dancing, No Dancing: Inside the Global Humanitarian Crisis Denis Dragovic