Amid the social turmoil of the 1960s and '70s, Flores Forbes was drawn to the Black Panther Party's mission of organizing resistance to police brutality. Eagerly joining the revolution, he soon found himself immersed in a culture of Mao-inspired rigor - and by the time he was twenty-five years old, he had earned a place in the Party's elite inner circle as a assistant chief of staff. Although ultimately his fierce dedication resulted in a deadly mistake that cost him his freedom, he finally got his life back after serving time in prison.

Now, in this remarkable memoir, Forbes vividly...