AMERICA REDUX

“It’s not just the image that matters, but how it takes up space. It’s not just the event that matters, but how we shape the stories around it”: This illustrated journey through lesser-known and frequently erased parts of United States history vividly demonstrates these points.

Each of 21 chapters in this debut by visual storyteller Aberg-Riger provides information typically missing from standard retellings of the nation’s past. The opening chapter discusses the post–Civil War rise of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, White women who promoted their version of history through distorted content in textbooks used by millions of children through the 1970s. A chapter on the annexation of Hawai‘i connects present-day poverty and Native Hawaiian activism to the impacts of missionaries, the military, White plantation owners, and culturally exploitative tourism. Other chapters cover involuntary sterilization, urban renewal, toxic-waste dumping, HIV/AIDS, extractive mining on Native lands, and more. This stellar offering combines startling facts, gripping prose, and appealing, vibrant collage illustrations that use photographs, maps, and other ephemera. The typeface, designed by the author, looks handwritten, bringing a feeling of immediacy. The contributions of women, people of color, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people are featured prominently. Thought-provoking connections are made to today’s burning issues, e.g., gun control, lack of affordable housing, and mass incarceration. The short chapters in this accessible work will pique readers’ interest in diving deeper to learn more about these challenging topics.

Beautifully illustrated, riveting, enraging, and empowering: a must-read.