The Fighting Soul

The man behind the enigmatic progressive icon—an unparalleled and intimate account of Bernie Sanders from one of his most trusted confidants.



Bernie Sanders inspires fervent love and, even among his enemies, a measure of grudging respect—yet, curiously, we know little about who the man really is, with Sanders deliberately keeping the focus on his policies.



Now, with The Fighting Soul, Ari Rabin-Havt takes us where no profiles or televised interview have been able to go. As a close advisor and deputy campaign manager on Sanders's most recent—and likely last—presidential campaign, the tireless Rabin-Havt spent more hours between 2017 and 2020 with the Vermont senator than anyone else. Traveling the country for rallies and to support striking workers, the two visited thirty-six states, drove tens of thousands of miles, and ate in countless chain restaurants. One result was a meteoric and galvanizing presidential campaign. Another is The Fighting Soul, an unforgettable chronicle of life on the road with Sanders and the first in-depth portrait of this fiercely independent, and famously private, left-wing firebrand.