Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Prequel by Rachel Maddow Narrator: Rachel Maddow
Published by Penguin Audio on October 17, 2023
Genres: Non Fiction
Length: 13 hours, 9 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens’ confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule.
That effort worked—tongue and groove—alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection.
At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding. In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court.
None of it went as planned.
While the scheme has been remembered in history—if at all—as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country’s most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation.
That failure of the legal system had consequences. The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades. But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times.
I don’t read a lot of nonfiction but I’ve been inspired to read more history by Heather Cox Richardson who tells the history in an easily understandable fashion. So I wanted to read Prequel by Rachel Maddow, which is a history of fascism with a strong dose of antisemitism.
As with the time after the depression before World War II, the wealthy and corporations did not like FDR’s New Deal where everyone got a fair shake at making a living. They wanted more of the wealth and really all of the power. Much like the authoritarians worldwide including Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito, they chose the tack of bullying and disparaging others. They were supported by others who preferred to be the bullies and violent ones.
There were Germans or sympathetic Americans who worked hard to keep America out of the war. They spent plenty of time and money converting politicians and businessmen. The politicians even used their free mailing privileges to send out the German written propaganda. Then they called their detractors communists. Projection as it is today with the GOP supporting Russia and calling others socialists or communists.
Thankfully, there were both men who had served in the military and in World War I, as well as some journalists, and prosecutors, who saw what was happening and helped to gather evidence and try to prosecute those who went against America’s best interests. Unfortunately, the rich and powerful for the most part avoided any real punishment. When the war ended, people wanted the war to be over and mostly did not want to rehash the bad events.
The seeds of these groups have gone on though to fight civil rights and into violent Nazi groups which are popular today. If you aren’t a Christian white male, you can become other. For them, other shouldn’t have any rights or property. It was frightening and at times disgusting, to see how history is repeating some aspects.
I see these lunatics on social media and on the news, and in Congress all the time. They will say anything in deference to the great orange criminal. I can only hope there will be reasonable people who believe in respect and dignity for all, who fight the lies and disinformation in this round with fascism.
Narration:
This history is narrated by the author, Rachel Maddow. I usually appreciate the author narrating because they know where the emotion and any emphasis should be. I was very comfortable with her voice. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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Outstanding review, Anne💜 I was hoping to get to this during the holidays but real life changed things.
Thank you Jonetta. It’s sometimes difficult to review non fiction. I mean there isn’t world building or plot or characters so much as it is real. It’s not always easy to read. It’s scary how far things went and how horrible people were / are.
Sounds like a good thinking piece. I don’t read or listen to much non-fiction, but when its historical, it can grab my attention. Yeah, always scary when one can see the cycles of history happening yet again.
yeah the former guy is talking about rounding up immigrants and deporting them because they are “poisoning the blood” of Americans. Um dude, we are all immigrants except native Americans including you! But two of his wives are directly immigrants. But he means non-white immigrants.
I’m with you, I don’t read much nonfiction, but I love historical ones like this. I’ll have to check it out. It’s interesting to see how cyclical history is even when it isn’t meant to be.
I don’t see how people can forget things, like economic things that worked and didn’t also (which isn’t really what this one is about). Usually it is because they don’t care and just want the power and money for themselves.
Non-Fiction is not my thing, but the fact that its about history would have me wanting to pick this one up.
It’s history up to present and I hadn’t known some of these things happened.
I don’t read much non-fiction either, but I like Rachel Maddow. She seems reasonable. It is sickening and frightening, too, to see all the hate and misinformation spewed in government. That Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Getz (spelling?) are two nutjobs made dangerous by being in power. I also hope there are enough reasonable people out there to balance out the all the evil. Sounds like an interesting read *listen*, Anne.
Some of it is not easy to listen to and I want to cringe at how deluded people are or how much they only care about themselves and their own money / power. That’s why I generally dislike politics. I felt ok ignoring politics until the orange criminal became president and now I don’t think I will ever be able to stop paying attention. It’s stressful.
I pretty much never read non-fiction, but I probably should. This sounds like a very good history lesson.
It’s actually shocking to me how this happened and how little people pay attention. In politics, the criminals have often been spared prosecution if they just “go away.” The problem is someone like Trump doesn’t go away; he just doubles down on his crimes.
I like Maddow, but don’t read a lot of non-fiction. Great review Anne.
Thank you Kimberly. I have tried to be more aware since 2016. The best I’ve found is the daily short letters of Heather Cox Richardson to keep up on the news and its relation to history. She posts on Facebook but also has substack.
This sounds intense, but a good read.
I thought it was good and pointed out to me how little the average public knows about things which are happening.