Cry Havoc

Michael Signer was the idealistic citizen-mayor of Charlottesville, hoping to use values such as civility and prudent governance to help guide his community through local issues such as what to do about controversial Confederate statues. Instead, he found himself in the eye of a "perfect firestorm," as his community came under siege in a coordinated campaign by the alt-Right. Cry Havoc is a compelling narrative of events on-the-ground in Charlottesville 2017, set in a larger context of what it means for a country struggling to find its way through the sturm und drang of the Trump era. Signer provides invaluable insight into how a democratic society under fire can respond to challenges such as:
Reconciling free speech and the right of assembly with the need for public safety, in a time of rising extremism.The intensification of extremes on the right and the left, consuming values of pragmatism and compromise and even facts themselves.The widespread disaffection with institutions and a democracy that seems to be faltering and turning on itself.The failure to deliver positive measures to address a legacy of systemic racism through our political language, our built environments, and our public policies.An Internet and social media unleashing our darkest demons and organized hatred that we are ill-equipped to disrupt.
Signer's "you are there" account will have readers asking "Well, what would I have done?" if confronted face-to-face with forces intent on intimidation and the destruction of democratic norms and institutions. This book provides insight and inspiration for how we can individually and collectively rise to the challenge.

The Hon. Michael Signer, the award-winning former mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia, is a public scholar, executive, and practising attorney.

From 2016 to 2018, Signer served as mayor of Charlottesville, a AAA-bond-rated city of nearly fifty thousand. He has served as an executive and general counsel at a major Virginia technology firm, as counsel to governor Mark Warner of Virginia, as the national security director on the 2008 John Edwards presidential campaign, and as the chair of the Emergency Food Network in Virginia. He has been an instructor at the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and the University of California. He was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2009 and has received senior appointments from three Virginia governors. In 2018, he founded and chaired Communities Overcoming Extremism, a bipartisan capacity-building project for leaders in the public and private sectors and the sponsor of the "Overcoming Extremism" podcast.

He is the author of two previous books, Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies and Becoming Madison: The Extraordinary Origins of the Least Likely Founding Father. He has written opinion pieces and essays for The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, Time, Vox, and Democracy. He has been profiled by NPR, CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Guardian and interviewed by Meet the Press, Face the Nation, The Rachel Maddow Show, and NPR's Morning Edition. He has received awards from organisations including the Anti-Defamation League, the University of California D.C. Alumni Association, the American Society for Yad Vashem and the Matthew Shepard Foundation. He was recognised by The Forward magazine in its "Forward 50 2018" list of the fifty most influential Jewish leaders in America. He is also a member of the 2018 class of the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellows.