The mystery of how an ordinary Minnesota girl came to be, briefly, one of the most wanted domestic terrorists in the United States Behind every act of domestic terrorism there is someoneâs child, an average American whose life took a radical turn for reasons that often remain mysterious. Camilla Hall is a case in point: a pastorâs daughter from small-town Minnesota who eventually joined the ranks of radicals like Sara Jane Olson (aka Kathleen Soliah) in the notorious Symbionese Liberation Army before dying in a shootout with Los Angeles Police in May 1974. How could a âgood girlâ like Camilla become one of the most wanted domestic terrorists in the United States? Rachael Hanel tells her story here, revealing both the deep humanity and the extraordinary circumstances of Camilla Hallâs life. Camillaâs childhood in a tight-knit religious family was marred by loss and grief as, one after another, her three siblings died. Her path from her Minnesota home to her final, radical SLA family featured years as an artist and activistâin welfare offices, political campaigns, union organizing, culminating in a love affair that would be her introduction to the SLA. Through in-depth research and extensive interviews, Hanel pieces together Camillaâs bewildering transformation from a âgentle, zaftig, arty, otherworldyâ young woman (as one observer remarked), working for social change within the system, into a gun-wielding criminal involved in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. During this time of mounting unrest and violence, Camilla Hallâs story is of urgent interest for what it reveals about the forces of radicalization. But as Hanel ventures ever further into Camillaâs past, searching out the critical points where character and cause might intersect, her book becomes an intriguing, disturbing, and ultimately deeply moving journey into the dark side of Americaâs promise.
Price history
Dec 14, 2022
€17.45