# Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 by Thomas E. Ricks

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 by Thomas E. Ricks and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised for treating civil rights protests as military campaigns, with detail on activist training and the strategic use of nonviolence.

## Why people recommend it

- Highly recommended, very good read (3 comments): "Rick's book is just so very good and my poor internet comment can't possibly do it justice." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48123848)) "is an incredible book that I strongly recommend" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47112097)) "got me to check the book out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48123896))
- Civil rights history as military strategy (3 comments): "It looked at the history of the civil rights movement from the perspective of a military historian, analyzing each step as its own military campaign." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183143)) "documents the intensive training that activists underwent during the civil rights movement which was crucial for their success" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46684058)) "I found reading the book Waging A Good War very educational about the deliberate, strategic use of nonviolence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47746977))
- Educational on training and nonviolence (2 comments): "documents the intensive training that activists underwent during the civil rights movement which was crucial for their success" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46684058)) "I found reading the book Waging A Good War very educational about the deliberate, strategic use of nonviolence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47746977))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250872529?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781250872524) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 by Thomas E. Ricks", https://hackerapproved.com/p/waging-a-good-war/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).