Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left

William O'Rourke is professor of English at the University of Notre Dame and the founding director of the graduate creative writing program. He is the author of four novels and five works of nonfiction, and the editor of two anthologies. His most recent books include Notre Dame Review: The First Ten Years, coedited with John Matthias (2009), and On Having a Heart Attack: A Medical Memoir (2006), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press. A new book, Confessions of a Guilty Freelancer, is forthcoming.

"For the sociologist interested in religion and social movements this edition published 40 years later with an Afterword and index makes for a fascinating ethnographic read." —Catholic Books Review"O'Rourke excels at bringing Harrisburg into the story. His expansive accounts of jury selection in this conservative region show what the defense had to overcome. . . . Republication of The Harrisburg 7 and the New Catholic Left should help introduce a new generation to these important events and to refocus attention on how the Vietnam War and the antiwar movement affected the home front." —Pennsylvania History"The 40th anniversary edition of this influential book, which includes a new afterword, speaks to readers interested in the religious antiwar protests of the Vietnam era." —U.S. Catholic"The religious antiwar protests of the Vietnam War era form the background of this reprint, which brings to life the 1972 trial of seven anti-war activists who were accused of conspiring to raid the federal offices, bomb federal property and kidnap presidential adviser Henry Kissinger. The 40th anniversary edition features a new afterword by the author . . . that includes a history of the new Catholic Left for the past four decades." —Notre Dame Magazine"O'Rourke's book does indeed have something of the antique and curious about it, concerning as it does, a trial in which the federal government was arraigning seven fierce opponents of the Vietnam War for conspiring to raid government offices, bomb Washington's infrastructures and kidnap President Richard Nixon's advisor, Henry Kissinger . . . . It is worth noting that 'The Harrisburg 7' remained on the New York Times 1972 'new and recommended' list for six weeks after its first publication." —ND Works"O'Rourke's book on the Harrisburg trial was a classic when it first appeared and remains a classic of trial reporting, an account even forty years later that is still pertinent to our contemporary situation. His new afterword is a gem of condensed history. It is a boon to journalists, historians, and political analysts to have this book back in print." —David Black, author of The King of Fifth Avenue and The Extinction Event