The Irish past hovers over "Writings for a Democratic Society: The Tom Hayden Reader." The longtime radical collected many of his writings just in time for the 2008 presidential election. This volume touches on many of Hayden's noted causes, including the Vietnam War and injustice in Central America. We also get a retrospective of events at which Hayden often had a front row seat: the infamous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, his marriage to the similarly outspoken Jane Fonda (they eventually divorced), as well as Hayden's years in the California State Senate. Hayden also remains passionate about his Irish roots. In the introductory essay, entitled "The Famine of Feeling," Hayden explores the impact of his Irish-American background, as well as his travels to Northern Ireland. He later recalls icons such as Bobby Kennedy, calling the slain leader "a raw Celtic spirit." ($21.95 / 591 pages / City Lights)