Heather Cox Richardson

Read this for a book club. Not at all what I expected it to be. She was showing a timeline of things that led to the current embrace of authoritarianism in America, kind of a cause and effect thing. But there really wasn't much in the way of analysis and zero regarding actions to be taken to stem the tide of it. It was one big downer. I can see how it might help someone younger than I am to understand this stuff, but I knew probably 90% of what was in the book and none of the rest of it particularly changed my general thoughts. I just didn't understand the point. It wasn't quite pure history, but was close enough that she should just have gone that route.… (more)

History Professor Richardson tells a history of American democracy—a belief that all people should have equal rights and have a government by their consent—from a pluralistic viewpoint, which stands in stark contrast to the America of late that seems to be leaning toward authoritarianism. Richardson traces the rise of the modern right wing back the New Deal as backlash against government intervention through the Reagan-era rise of White Christianity and trickle-down economics and right up through the authoritarian excesses of recent years. It is a very lucid explanation for the horrifying ascendency of anti-democratic Donald Trump. While Richardson seems to have faith that there is a liberal consensus in this country, the obvious bias detracts a bit from the potential value of her analysis; i.e., the faithful will remain faithful, but she is unlikely to convince anyone else that “our common good is our common interest and our individual responsibility.”… (more)