The Lancet, one of the oldest and best known medical journals in the world, recently published in its June issue a book review (PDF) of Righteous Rebels, the story of AHF’s bold history of activism. Written by award-winning journalist Patrick Range McDonald, Righteous Rebels chronicles AHF’s unlikely rise from a feisty grassroots organization during the 1980s AIDS crisis in Los Angeles to its position today as an aggressive, global leader in the fight to control HIV and AIDS.
Reviewed by Robert Stirrups, the headline boldly declares “Anyone Can Change Absolutely Change The World”. Observing that the “activist spirit remains fundamental to the organisation, even when it risks upsetting its own allies,” Stirrups summarizes:
McDonald has managed a deft balancing act with this book: on one hand providing a fascinating inside view of a billion-dollar non-profit organisation, while on the other hand providing a history of both the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the AIDS crisis, full of human interest and compelling portraits of the major players in the organisation. However, this book was written with a larger purpose in mind: to inspire readers to take action and to provide a “blueprint for how anyone can absolutely change the world”.
Published in November 2016 by Prospect Park Books in paperback and digital editions, the first chapter can be previewed for free and the book purchased here.