Through key international movements as well as people such as Gandhi, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, and Vaclav Havel, this book discusses the components of nonviolent resistance. It answers the question "Why nonviolence?" by showing how nonviolent movements have succeeded again and again in a variety of ways, in all sorts of places, and always in the face of overwhelming odds. The book includes endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.

Todd Hasak-Lowy is the author of several books for young readers. He is a professor of creative writing and literature at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His books include Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You and 33 Minutes. Hasak-Lowy lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two daughters.