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American Rebels is an anthology of specially commissioned essays by leading American writers that attempt to reconcile authentic patriotism with original artistic creation, unpopular opinion, and real moral principles that don''t change with the winds. It includes rebels in politics, education, journalism, religion, literature, film, sports, music, law, popular culture, and social struggle. These are real rebels against conformity, commercialism, racism, oligarchy, the bogus conventional wisdom, stacked decks, and sacred cows. The Americans celebrated don''t fit under any one ideology or party. They are too free-spirited to be categorized, belonging to a continuum of conviction and creation in our tangled national history. Some, like Walt Whitman, Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando, and Frank Sinatra, are famous. Others are less well known but have earned a broad appreciation; among them are Sam Fuller, Paul O''Dwyer, and Mike Harrington. Still others like Edward Abbey, Benjamin Mays, and Bill Hicks are almost cult figures-revered by a small, intense following. Others have faded from memory, like Margaret Sanger and Clarence Darrow, and deserve a new shaft of sunlight. This groundbreaking collection includes original essays by Pete Hamill, Stanley Crouch, Budd Schulberg, Danny Goldberg, J. Hoberman, Patricia Bosworth, Tom Hayden, Steve Earle, and others.

Jack Newfield is a veteran New York reporter. He has written for the Village Voice, New York Daily News, and the New York Post. He is a fellow at the Nation Institute and the author of several books including The Life and Crimes of Don King, Somebody’s Got to Tell It, and The Full Rudy.

Mark Jacobson, the author of the novels Gojiro and Everyone and No One, and the travelogue 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time, has been a contributing editor to New York magazine, Rolling Stone, and Natural History, staff writer at the Village Voice, and columnist for Esquire. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.