Playing for Change (with Richard Flacks)

“The definitive book on the uses of songs and musical performances in social movements.”  Humanity & Society

“Required reading for anyone seeking a more in-depth understanding of the role of music in social movements.”  Social Forces

“Refreshingly complete, obviously the fruit of lengthy reflection and research… Invaluable to teachers and students of music and sociology alike.”  Rock Music Studies

“A thorough and focused study that will no doubt help shift the music-movement nexus conversation and offer a far more nuanced analysis of the ways in which this link has matured and shifted across time and space.”  Labour/Le Travail 

Pete Seeger in His Own Words (with Sam Rosenthal)

"Gathering the most extensive collection of Seeger's writings to date ― ranging from unpublished letters, diaries, and notes to himself, to previously published album-liner notes, book introductions, and journal articles ― sociologist Rob Rosenthal and his son, Sam Rosenthal, introduce a man deeply committed to the power of music, community, and ideas... This remarkable collection displays Seeger in all his cantankerous, playful, idealistic, and loving glory."  Library Journal

"The Rosenthals deftly selected and arranged the material to tell Seeger's life story so that it reads like a full-fledged autobiography. The words are Seeger's, and the bountiful wisdom is Seeger's, but the handiwork is the Rosenthals'." Matthew Rothschild, in The Progressive

“These writings are like hidden treasures – unaltered, unlaundered, and revealing Pete’s evolution as a conscientious and conflicted patriotic American.” Nick Forster, host of the nationally broadcast eTown

Homeless in Paradise

“Co-winner of the 1995 Book Award of the Association for Humanist Sociology, Rob Rosenthal has given us an excellent example of the kind of sociology we are committed to… A most honest book, methodologically reflexive, an instructional classic.” Michel G. Weinstein, University of Hawaii at Mano, Chair, 1995 AHS Book Award Committee

“Rosenthal’s book is a breath of fresh air…  Only through ethnographic work like his can we fully apprehend the diversity and vibrancy of the social world of homelessness.” J. William Spencer, Contemporary Sociology

"Homeless in Paradise combines participant-observation data, interviews, and analysis of structural data to produce one of the best books I have read on homelessness." Elliot Liebow, author of Tally’s Corner

"Rosenthal has put a human face on the problem of homelessness. He gives us the opportunity to get to know homeless people as individuals not just stick figures or stereotypes. Homeless in Paradise traces the political, social, and economic forces that produce this destitution and suffering. Yet, as importantly, it directs us toward humane public policies at all levels of government."  Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College