The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States

The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States by Johnson, Walter. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780465064267.

A history of American racial exploitation and resistance, told through the turbulent past of the city of St. Louis “A magisterial book… A searing history.” —Eddie S. Glaude, author of Begin Again From Lewis and Clarks 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nations past. St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal. But it was once also Americas most radical city, home to anti-capitalist immigrants, the Civil Wars first general emancipation, and the nations first general strike—a legacy of resistance that endures. A blistering history of a citys rise and decline, The Broken Heart of America will forever change how we think about the United States.