As a child, Janet Parsons Mackey witnessed her grandfather's passion for progressive politics, civil rights, and the Russian Revolution. Lively debates on justice and politics were commonplace.

Then came the Red Scare and the oppressive paranoia of the McCarthy era. Silence replaced conversation and discussion for many in her family, distancing them from a grandfather who continued to express his views through meetings, speeches, and newspaper columns. E. Dudley Parsons was never complacent-and never silenced.

"Things Get Rearranged" represents author Parsons Mackey's attempt to...