Up in Arms

Praise

“[An] intelligent, impeccably researched deep dive into two clashes between the federal government and right-wing antigovernment protesters . . . Temple’s even-handed and painstaking reportage yields a clear and unbiased portrait of this subsection of the movement.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Give[s] the reader the information needed to decide whether he or she belongs on Team Bundy or Team Fed—or neither.”

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Act One of the Bundy Burlesque is neatly chronicled by John Temple in another new book, Up in Arms.”

—KNPR/Desert Companion 

“If you want to understand the extremist militia groups popping up around the country lately, you need to start with Nevada’s notorious Bundy clan. Temple shines a light on the people as well as the religious, political and economic factors that gave rise to this dangerous movement.”

—The Revelator

“A tale of the modern American frontier, told by one of our great independent journalists.”

—Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

“With Up in Arms, John Temple delivers another fierce and searching portrait of an American subculture. His last book, American Pain, opened up the vault on painkiller pill mills, delivering a prescient harbinger of the opioid crisis. Now, his new and piercing look at the Bundy clan and the wider Patriot militia culture is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the continuing schism between rural and urban America.”

—Anthony Swofford, New York Times bestselling author of Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles

“John Temple’s depth of reporting is nothing short of remarkable. Reading Up in Arms, I was truly immersed, as if I was witnessing the bizarre series of events unfolding in real time. Most Americans only experienced a fraction of the saga through mass media’s parachute journalism. Temple’s in-depth approach propels you into the unbelievable story with extraordinary details, characters, history, and riveting scenes.”

—Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Academy Award–nominated documentary filmmaker of Heroin(e)