SASHA ISSENBERG is the author of three previ-ous books, including The Victory Lab- The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns. He has covered presidential elections as a national political reporter in the Washington bureau of The Boston Globe, a columnist for Slate, and a contributor to Bloomberg Politics and Businessweek. He is the Wash-ington correspondent at Monocle, and his work has also appeared in New York, The New York Times Magazine, and George, where he served as a contributing editor. He teaches in the political science department at UCLA.
“A lively, encyclopedic survey of the struggle for marriage
equality . . . Issenberg emphasizes an overlapping, conflicting and
often serendipitous series of events . . . a complex and chaotic
chain reaction that thrust same-sex marriage from the realm of
conservative conjecture . . . to the forefront of the American
consciousness, to the top of the gay political agenda and,
eventually, to the halls of the Supreme Court.”
—Eric Cervini, The New York Times Book Review
“A comprehensive history. . . . Conveys social history as the grand
drama it really is, full of intimate details, battling
personalities, heated court cases, public persuasion.”
—John Williams, The New York Times
“Part Grisham-esque legal thriller, part Sorkin-esque political
drama, and part Maddow-esque historical yarn.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine
“A tour-de-force. . . . Engaging, authoritative and impeccably
sourced.”
—The Guardian
“Insightful and breezy . . . Tracing the evolution of both
public opinion and politics around marriage equality, the work
holds a mirror up to how much America has changed in a short period
of time and how those in power actually followed the public embrace
of same-sex marriage, rather than lead it.”
—Philip Elliot, Time Magazine
“Issenberg is a journalist who digs deep, and this sprawling,
authoritative, finely detailed book reflects that.”
—Frank Bruni
“Comprehensive . . . From the 1990 Hawaii same-sex marriage license
applications through lawyer Mary Bonauto’s work, Issenberg’s
chronicle is an important contribution.”
—Washington Post (10 Books to Read in June)
“This meticulously reported work sheds new light on just about
every aspect of this fraught history . . . It is sure to become the
definitive book on one of the most important issues of our
time.”
—O. Henry Magazine
“This lively, thorough and fascinating history reconstructs the
fight for gay marriage, tracing how an issue that barely registered
among queer activists became, in the wake of outspoken opposition
from the religious right, a priority.”
—The New York Times (weekly roundup)
“Issenberg's nuanced and insightful reporting brings clarity to
this important milestone."
—Booklist
“A definitive portrait of a key victory in the battle for LGBTQ
rights."
—Publishers Weekly
“The Engagement is a sprawlingly rich history of the
United States' most transformative equality movement. Issenberg's
impressively wide-ranging interviews allow him to go beyond the
familiar story of trailblazing lawyers to give lesser-known
campaign consultants due credit for their critical contributions to
bringing about a sea-change in America's acceptance of gay
equality. Likewise, Issenberg's fair-minded treatment of equality
opponents further demonstrates The Engagement will be an enduringly
significant work of history."
—David J. Garrow, author of Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to
Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade and Rising Star: The Making
of Barack Obama
“In this deeply engaging and comprehensively reported work, Sasha
Issenberg traces the story of marriage equality from its beginnings
as a nearly impossible dream to its current status as an essential
right. This engrossing account of social change, political will and
human rights arrives at a moment of great urgency. Issenberg’s
narrative will inform the efforts of anyone who strives for a more
equal country, and touch the heart of anyone who has seen their
rights come up for debate.”
—Pete Buttigieg, author of Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge
and a Model for America's Future
“Sasha Issenberg has produced a sweeping, inside history of the
first great civil rights triumph of the new century, masterfully
weaving together the stories of the pioneering activists and the
political and legal strategies they devised into a book of
penetrating reportage and analysis that reads like a thriller.”
—Joshua Green, author of Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald
Trump, and the Nationalist Uprising
“At once political history, movement autopsy, legal chronicle, and
fly-on-the-wall account, Sasha Issenberg’s latest is a one of his
most thought-provoking books to date. By reckoning with the stories
of those who hoped finally to legalize same-sex marriage, as well
as those who were determined to delay, or actively to prevent, such
a revolution, Issenberg animates one of this nation’s most recent
and dramatic civil rights fights as few others have. And, in doing
so, he makes clear not only that its origins were most complex, but
also why its legacy remains most uncertain.”
—Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Blood
in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy
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