lokroma reviewed America Last by Jacob Heilbrunn
Review of 'America Last' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
DNF
An ok but mostly familiar account of fascist tendencies, and more specifically, the America First theory, that have run through U.S. history from the First World War up through today. The rise of isolationist thought, eugenic theory, and antisemitism, especially among elites, wends its political and cultural way from WWI through WWII and the McCarthy era right up until today. Shocking, as always, are the many, many high profile Holocaust deniers along the way. The need for far right types to manufacture facts in justification of what they don't want to acknowledge is not new and the author reminds us of this over and over (and over).
There are lots of minor characters in this story and not all of them are interesting. For me the most salient parts of the book were those that discussed well known political figures like McCarthy, Bill Buckley, and Trump, but I knew …
DNF
An ok but mostly familiar account of fascist tendencies, and more specifically, the America First theory, that have run through U.S. history from the First World War up through today. The rise of isolationist thought, eugenic theory, and antisemitism, especially among elites, wends its political and cultural way from WWI through WWII and the McCarthy era right up until today. Shocking, as always, are the many, many high profile Holocaust deniers along the way. The need for far right types to manufacture facts in justification of what they don't want to acknowledge is not new and the author reminds us of this over and over (and over).
There are lots of minor characters in this story and not all of them are interesting. For me the most salient parts of the book were those that discussed well known political figures like McCarthy, Bill Buckley, and Trump, but I knew a lot of that already. Nevertheless, the book was a reminder of the need for everyone living in democratic societies of the need to be always vigilant.