"The quickest way to learn history is to stand at the wrong end of a bayonetted rifle."

So begins The Education of Crazy Jane. A college student named Sam discovers the risks of protesting against the Vietnam War. Confronted at gunpoint by a hostile soldier, Sam is rescued by the charming intervention of Jane-Crazy Jane to his friends.

When he and Jane become romantically involved, Sam is both ecstatic and worried. Jane's idealism fuels her relentless determination to stop the war, and Sam frets about her safety. Not surprisingly, she gets arrested after smearing red paint on the walls of the Ann Arbor draft board office.

The couple struggle with their relationship, not just because of Jane's protest activities, but because she is a young woman with a problem.

She is passionately committed to ending the war, but she has trouble committing herself to anyone trying to get close enough to love her.

Writing with humor as well as compassion, the author invites the reader to bear witness as Jane faces her day in court, Sam tries to protect her, and they both try to hold onto each other during the social upheaval of the Sixties.