The Fire Is upon Us
James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America
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Narrated by:
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Prentice Onayemi
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By:
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Nicholas Buccola
About this listen
How the clash between the civil rights firebrand and the father of modern conservatism continues to illuminate America's racial divide
On February 18, 1965, an overflowing crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America's most influential conservative intellectual. The topic was "the American dream is at the expense of the American Negro", and no one who has seen the debate can soon forget it. Nicholas Buccola's The Fire Is upon Us is the first book to tell the full story of the event, the radically different paths that led Baldwin and Buckley to it, the controversies that followed, and how the debate and the decades-long clash between the men continues to illuminate America's racial divide today.
Born in New York City only 15 months apart, the Harlem-raised Baldwin and the privileged Buckley could not have been more different, but they both rose to the height of American intellectual life during the civil rights movement. By the time they met in Cambridge, Buckley was determined to sound the alarm about a man he considered an "eloquent menace." For his part, Baldwin viewed Buckley as a deluded reactionary whose popularity revealed the sickness of the American soul. The stage was set for an epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin's call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley's unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy.
A remarkable story of race and the American dream, The Fire Is upon Us reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of a conflict that continues to haunt our politics.
©2019 Nicholas Buccola (P)2019 Princeton University PressListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Nicholas Buccola's The Fire Is upon Us is a riveting, expansive companion text to a historic debate that swept the nation.... Following the men's journeys with meticulous detail, Buccola's biographical/historical/political hybrid proffers valuable insights for the current day." (Foreword Reviews)
"A study of two acclaimed American thinkers on opposite sides of the political spectrum that underscores the enormous race and class divisions in 1960s America, many of which still exist today.... An elucidating work that makes effective use of comparison and contrast." (Kirkus Reviews)
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"Fascists", "Brownshirts", "jackbooted stormtroopers" - such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?
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Great book
- By Mark on 05-10-08
By: Jonah Goldberg
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Behold, America
- The Entangled History of "America First" and "the American Dream"
- By: Sarah Churchwell
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In Behold, America, Sarah Churchwell offers a surprising account of 20th-century Americans' fierce battle for the nation's soul. It follows the stories of two phrases - the "American dream" and "America First" - that once embodied opposing visions for America. Starting as a Republican motto before becoming a hugely influential isolationist slogan during World War I, America First was always closely linked with authoritarianism and white supremacy. The American dream, meanwhile, initially represented a broad vision of democratic and economic equality.
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History we need to know
- By Caroline Pufalt on 12-09-18
By: Sarah Churchwell
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Rise Up
- Confronting a Country at the Crossroads
- By: Al Sharpton
- Narrated by: Al Sharpton, Leon Nixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with a foreword by Michael Eric Dyson, Rise Up is a rousing call to action for our nation, drawing on lessons learned from Reverend Al Sharpton’s unique experience as a politician, television and radio host, and civil rights leader.
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Inspired and inspiring
- By Jessica S on 10-13-20
By: Al Sharpton
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The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
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Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
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The War on the West
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
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Every Human (seriously, everyone) Read This!
- By aaron on 04-27-22
By: Douglas Murray
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Freethinkers
- A History of American Secularism
- By: Susan Jacoby
- Narrated by: Rich Miller
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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At a time when the separation of church and state is under attack as never before, Freethinkers offers a powerful defense of the secularist heritage that gave Americans the first government in the world founded not on the authority of religion but on the bedrock of human reason. In impassioned, elegant prose, celebrated author Susan Jacoby traces more than 200 years of secularist activism, beginning with the fierce debate over the omission of God from the Constitution.
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Essential history of free thought in America
- By Clark Savage on 11-27-17
By: Susan Jacoby
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The Long March
- How the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s Changed America
- By: Roger Kimball
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The architects of America's cultural revolution of the 1960s were Beat authors like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, and celebrated figures like Norman Mailer, Timothy Leary, Eldridge Cleaver, and Susan Sontag. In examining the lives and works of those who spoke for the 1960s, Roger Kimball conceives a series of cautionary tales, an annotated guidebook of wrong turns, dead-ends, and blind alleys.
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The Long March
- By Suzanne on 05-16-06
By: Roger Kimball
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Stony the Road
- Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow
- By: Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A profound new rendering of the struggle by African Americans for equality after the Civil War and the violent counterrevolution that resubjugated them, as seen through the prism of the war of images and ideas that have left an enduring racist stain on the American mind.
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Valuable examination of Jim Crow and Rise of White Supremacy in America
- By William J Brown on 05-14-19
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The Third Reconstruction
- America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Peniel E. Joseph
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this Third Reconstruction from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the failed assault on the Capitol.
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Revealing & powerful.
- By Terry Carmon on 02-08-24
By: Peniel E. Joseph
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Stamped from the Beginning
- The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
- By: Ibram X. Kendi
- Narrated by: Christopher Dontrell Piper
- Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Some Americans cling desperately to the myth that we are living in a post-racial society, that the election of the first Black president spelled the doom of racism. In fact, racist thought is alive and well in America - more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, if we have any hope of grappling with this stark reality, we must first understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated, and enshrined in American society.
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Fabulous book, poor reader
- By EBMason on 11-15-17
By: Ibram X. Kendi
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The Communist
- Frank Marshall Davis: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mentor
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In his memoir, Barack Obama omits the full name of his mentor, simply calling him "Frank." Now, the truth is out: Never has a figure as deeply troubling and controversial as Frank Marshall Davis had such an impact on the development of an American president. Although other radical influences on Obama - from Jeremiah Wright to Bill Ayers-have been scrutinized, the public knows little about Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, cited by the Associated Press as an "important influence" on Obama....
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So that's where Obama got many of his ideas!
- By Mike on 09-17-12
By: Paul Kengor
What listeners say about The Fire Is upon Us
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Edward P. Cerne
- 01-17-20
Sadly, the story is timeless.
Here we are 75 years later and the dialogue is unchanged. Lest you think Trump invented the racist and white supremacist polarization we are experiencing today, read this to find out how sadly mistaken you are. Donald Trump could be the reincarnation of William Buckley but with less than 25% of his intelligence.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Paul Warren
- 06-22-22
Better know Buckley, yet understand him not at all
Watch the debate first, then read or listen to this book, then watch it again.
Buckley is all flourish, using aggression and letting the superiority of his upbringing drip from every statement and attack. We find out the mind behind the "happy warrior" in an excellent book, though I frankly found Buckley to be more disgusting with every chapter: lazy in his intellect while tireless in his fights against equality between his WASPy, entitled life any... well just about anyone who isn't him but most especially African Americans.
He never tires of associating the most radical ideas opposed to him with even measured change being asked of the South before and during the Civil Rights movement. I will certainly read more by Buccola and by Baldwin, but I think I'll never be talked into reading Buckley after this relatively light sampling.
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- John Toth
- 05-25-20
Incredibly insightful articulation of the fundamental race issue of our time
Fascinating. By careful selection, organization and explanation this book articulates the profound and unflinching insights of Baldwin and the foundation for the Trump/Bannon era of manipulation in the service of conservatism in favor of the elites, established by Buckley. Far from dry, it was very engaging.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Keifer Smith
- 07-01-22
An extremely important book
I absolutely loved this book. To start, Nick does a wonderful job of weaving together the biographies of Baldwin and Buckley, creating a beautiful tapestry of their lives while interposing his brilliant analyses of their ideas and beliefs. But the icing on the cake is the sublime narration by Prentice Onayemi. Too often I will begin listening to an audiobook that I have to then delete because the narrator is too monotoned and bland, but Prentice has an almost seductive quality to his voice which brings that added layer of enjoyment to the book.
Finally, I would like to say that, having taken many of Nick’s classes, I can say that this book is wholeheartedly him and while it is Prentice who is talking, I can hear Nick’s voice throughout.
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- Stephen Werk
- 01-02-20
Excellent book of ideas
An excellent book of ideas, some of which surprised this reader. Note that most of the book relates the views and statements of the two protagonists before and after the debate. The actual debate takes up a small portion of the book. I recommend it highly.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Marianne
- 12-06-19
Fantastic
Wonderful and fascinating dual biography
Prentice Onayemi is one of the best readers on Audible
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-06-20
Great book audio version is so so
I like the narration of this one but it’s very low key and the overall volume is rather low
The book itself was great and provided the context needed to understand the lead up to and aftermath of the debate.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anna Martine
- 10-26-22
Best audible book I have experienced
This is an extraordinarily well researched and thorough story of not only this historic debate but the context surrounding it, culturally and interpersonally between these two powerful people. And the story is incredibly well told for this production. I was thoroughly engaged by both the story and the narrators voice from start to finish. I was especially happy to have the chance to hear the unedited debate at the appendix of the book.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-26-23
Well written and narrated. A necessary listen.
The most amazing part is that there are audio clips from the debate in the appendicies. Such an informative audio book that substantiates racial injustice that has been codified into American politics.
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- R. Herz
- 11-03-19
Well done, but
The book is well-done, but it is more love letter to James Baldwin, and a good and well-deserved description of his works and thought in the 50's and 60's, than a fair and balanced treatment of two divergent points of view. The treatment of Buckley and his actions and thought unfortunately mars what could have been a really good study.
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8 people found this helpful