Prequel: American Fight Against Fascism

Maddow’s excellent work is written, and published at the professional historian level.

Few contemporary Americans have the real background of support the Nazi movement had in pre-WWII America. This was from the general public to deep in the Federal bureaucracy.

For this alone Rachel Maddow deserves honors. But, her review of the smooth transition of the post war pro-Nazis to the active anti-communist movement is an added plus.

I awarded her work just 4 stars for just one problem; the “footnotes” are not at the foot, and merely listed by page number in the back pages rendering them nearly useless.

Mind blowing and worrying stuff. Evil thrives in the darkness but this shines a light on American politics so we can learn from it.

Rachel Maddow is stellar as a writer and a historical author and this book is a must read especially now in this political climate. I appreciate her ability to build a complete narrative around her subjects and to end with the shocking warning about history repeating itself . A++++++

I have read three of Dr. Maddow’s books. This one is the most informative and frightening. She deconstructs 100 years of American history and shows us that autocrats such as Trump have long been a part of our politics. During World War II members of Congress conspired with Adolph Hitler while American fighting forces were dying in Europe in their effort to stop this madman. Members of Congress were working against their own people. In one case a United States Senator’s son died on the battlefield while his father worked for the likes of Hitler. It is no surprise that so many members of Congress support Trump because of his authoritarian and dictator aspirations. The Trump Republican Party wants no part of democracy. They want to rule despite their minority. Tear up the United States Constitution. Support a man who has 34 felony convictions. They want power. Blame the immigrants, blame the Jews, blame the Negroes. Get rid of them and you will be fine. Interestingly Donald J. Trump is not mentioned in this wonderful book. You only see him as a reflection of autocratic Americans who preceded him men like Louisiana’s Huey Long who served as Governor and United States Senator simultaneously.

What I liked:
– Deeply researched – amazing depth, particularly of a wide range of characters (a few of whom are true heroes) and many more miscreants – Rachel must have had a spectacular research team to work with! She mentions that “there were millions of words written about the rise of (and fight against) fascism as it was happening in pre-World War II America” – but I bet that most Americans haven’t been exposed to them.
– Starts off mildly with George Sylvester Viereck (a ridiculous author, but just wait!) but then shifts gears progressively as the story builds and adds in a raft of odious characters
– Not afraid to name names – some of the politicians ultimately come in for some serious whacking (see Sens. Wheeler and Langer especially). Also surprising were the back stories of names I recognize (architect Philip Johnson, for example) without knowing of their nazi sympathies and antisemitism.
– Mr. and Mrs. Lindbergh are waaay more complicated than our stereotypes of the heroic but opaque pilot and his saintly wife (she is one scary piece of work!) – stuff I simply didn’t know, and what was presented was alarming to the extent of making skin crawl
– I had never heard of the sedition trials of 1943 and 1944 and prosecutor John Rogge at all before – just one example of new (and stunning) information from our history – absolute bedlam!
– As the history advances and the book nears its end, there are several BIG events that may push you back in your reading chair several times – again, no spoilers, but hoo-eee!
– The epilogue was a treat to read – again, I won’t reveal any spoilers

A minor criticism – the book is derived (I believe) from Rachel’s podcasts, and thus the writing has her inimitable voice (pointed asides, etc.), but as a result may lack some polish and smoothness in the prose. Some may love it, some may carp, some may not even notice it. Whatever.

If material about this period is of interest to the reader, be certain to seek out “Hitler in Los Angeles” by Steven J. Ross – its focus is a little narrower, dealing with Jewish undercover work to foil Nazi plotting in Los Angeles, but Leon Lewis, a true mensch and hero, is in Maddow’s book as well.

Well researched and written book about the history of fascism in the United States as well as our contributions to the rise of Hitler. We can learn from history or live it again.