When the senatorial election of 2008 between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman stretched on for a contentious six months, people throughout the country wondered about Minnesota's offbeat politics. But Minnesota has been and is now a seedbed for cultural and political movements that have changed the country, and its history weaves a pattern of wide opposition between left and right. In this broad and readable narrative, eminent Minnesota historian Rhoda R Gilman covers the major protest movements of the last 150 years: the abolitionist Republican party, Grangers, antimonopolists, Populists, strikers, progressives, suffragists, Communists, Farmer-Laborites, communes and co-ops, abortion politics, and more. She profiles charismatic and quirky leaders like Ignatius Donnelly, Floyd B Olson, and Paul Wellstone. Each movement, each personality, is part of the context for the others. This book tells a story of people repeatedly challenging the status quo. It is a narrative of people against power, of conflict and defeat, but also of change and tenacity. In a forceful and inspirational conclusion, Gilman discusses the events that she herself has helped to shape and shares her vision of the future.