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  • The Education of a Radical: An American Revolutionary in Sandinista Nicaragua by Michael Johns
  • Christine J. Wade
The Education of a Radical: An American Revolutionary in Sandinista Nicaragua. By Michael Johns. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. Pp. x, 130. $45.00 cloth; $24.95 paper.

Reflecting on the embrace of radicalism that led him to study and work for the early Sandinista government, Geography professor Michael Johns offers an uncompromising look at his younger self and the Nicaraguan revolution. In doing so, he tells the story of a young man who was more enamored with the idea of being a revolutionary than with the revolution itself.

Johns's memoir opens on the morning of the U.S. invasion of Grenada, which heightened fears of a US invasion in Nicaragua and ended Johns's "fantasy of being a revolutionary intellectual" (p. 2). He chronicles his travels to Nicaragua to conduct research for his master's thesis and the rare opportunity to work for a revolution. Though he was there to collect data on cotton and coffee harvests, he was soon immersed in the revolution in ways he had not anticipated. Following the Grenada invasion, Johns found himself digging trenches, joining a militia, doing revolutionary vigilance, marching against U.S. imperialism, and teaching Marxist theory to Sandinista youth. Yet the more he became involved in the revolution, the more he doubted both the movement and himself.

Johns reveals his growing insecurities by recounting a series of uncomfortable interactions, such as when a Sandinista compañero critical of the comandantes called him a rábano (radish). The implication that he was red on the outside and white on the inside clearly struck a nerve. Another particularly poignant encounter occurs when a group of solidarity activists, whom Johns not so affectionately refers to as "Sandalistas," arrives [End Page 122] in Nicaragua to participate in the coffee harvest. Among them was Phil Agee, a former CIA officer who was now prepared to dedicate his life to fighting imperialism. In Agee he saw a fanatic with a genuine commitment that he no longer recognized in himself. Though he tried to distance himself from such fanatics at the time, it's clear that he has more in common with them than he wants to believe. Johns remarks, "I didn't like seeing Agee as a fanatic. I didn't like seeing the Sandalistas as revolutionary tourists, either. What I liked least of all, however, was knowing, if only in the recesses of my mind, that I was seeing part of myself in all of them" (p.92).

Just as Johns comes to doubt himself, he also examines how he came to be increasingly disenchanted with the revolution. An encounter with a coffee farmer, who pleads with him to understand how the revolution's policies will harm him, provides a moving illustration of Johns's growing disillusionment and his sense of a disconnect between theory and reality. The story ends with Johns falling away from the revolution and Marxism shortly after returning home. Perhaps ironically, Johns later finds himself surrounded by young Marxist students like his former self who accuse him of being "an apologist for capitalism" (p. 123). Through these encounters, he questions whether he had really been a radish all along.

This book is best suited to those familiar with the Nicaraguan revolution, as there is little historical context for its unfolding or for the early years of the Sandinista government. Still, it is accessible enough to appeal to a broader audience. The writing is clear and concise, with vivid imagery. It's a gutsy, revealing story that compels readers to question their own motivations and beliefs. Though there is no doubt that some may be uncomfortable with Johns's personal revelations, criticisms of Marxism, and portrayal of the revolution, his is a story well told.

Christine J. Wade
Washington College
Chestertown, Maryland
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