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A review by ssindc
Behold, America: The Entangled History of "America First" and "The American Dream" by Sarah Churchwell
5.0
Another ... depressing, difficult, disconcerting ... but thought-provoking and, most importantly, informative book of our times that is well worth reading. For all of my education and degrees (yes, yes, we are who we are), I never cease to be amazed by how much history I don't know, what we weren't taught (in high school, in college), and ... sadly, but most importantly, what we just didn't want to know or didn't want to hear. So, if you (as I aspire to be) are troubled by current events, but are open to new information and willing to rethink basic assumptions (or challenge things you've taken for granted ... well ... forever), I suggest you add this list to your reading pile.
Sadly, the book grabs the reader by both ears and makes the reader stare reality in the face, forcing the reader to acknowledge the ugly underbelly of American history (and dreams), particularly with regard to widespread (patent and latent) racism and Antisemitism. [Yes, Virginia, reading about the KKK (and fascists and Nazis) and its (their) lengthy history in our nation, is never pretty.] And, sadly, understanding this is so terribly important today .... Along those lines, you should definitely consider reading this if you enjoyed, for example, King's prize-winning Devil in the Grove, Grann's popular Killers of the Flower Moon,, or I dunno, Isabel Wilkerson's monumental/epic Warmth of Other Suns... (that's just to name a few... and a handful of others that come to mind in other contexts are referenced below....)
Due primarily to my interest/background in defense/military aviation and weapons production, my general familiarity with Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford as celebrity and industrialist American Firsters (or Nazi sympathizers or anti-Semites ... you decide for yourself) was typically consumed in the context of their (Lindbergh and Ford's) otherwise impressive (often extraordinary) and laudable achievements. While there are innumerable biographies of both, they're brought together in AJ Baime's (informative, but, frankly, strangely constructed), The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm America at War, which I review at some length here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19729884-the-arsenal-of-democracy ... Obviously, this is a more fulsome, organized, and thoughtful exposition on America First (and, of course, the American Dream).
Among other things, the book did a splendid job convincing me I need to read more by (and more about) Dorothy Thompson, whose words ... in 1941 ... seem spot on, if not prescient, today. Sadly, the book also presents one of the most compelling the apple doesn't fall far from the tree explanations of Donald Trump's instincts, biases, blind spots, actions, and behaviors, including everything from racism and dog-whistling to disinformation.
Reader's nit: The book isn't necessarily an easy or a quick read, and ... given how much of the meat of the story is about words, phrases, and minor tweaks and modifications to definitions and usage and interpretation, the book requires more concentration that is required in, say, serial detective fiction (which, obviously, this isn't). I expect for many readers, this could become a slog (but I didn't find it to be so; indeed, I plowed through it rather quickly). By way of comparison, since it might appeal to a similar readership, I found the pages turned much (much) more quickly in, say, Frum's Trumpocracy, or Snyder's (slim but elegant and extremely worthwhile) On Tyranny than they did here. All I mean to say is that it's a serious book on a serious topic and, accordingly, it requires serious attention to appreciate it.
Also, I haven't read Churchwell before, and my sense is that this book (project, and research) isn't necessarily in the center of her wheelhouse.... And, periodically, I felt it was a strange book ... and I wasn't even sure what I was reading or where it was going (although I got over that relatively quickly) ... because, in some ways, it was more history of language and usage than history, but that's not quite right. Because it is history, and the overall endeavor represents a staggering amount ... and a unique brand ... of research, with extensive identification and description of speeches, books, essays, radio shows, reporting, op-eds, and ... well, you get the idea. And this isn't modest history ... no, rather, it embraces a lengthy period of time, but pulls it all together and presents the research in a cohesive, and, more importantly, compelling manner.
I strongly recommend it (and applaud the author). Well done.
Sadly, the book grabs the reader by both ears and makes the reader stare reality in the face, forcing the reader to acknowledge the ugly underbelly of American history (and dreams), particularly with regard to widespread (patent and latent) racism and Antisemitism. [Yes, Virginia, reading about the KKK (and fascists and Nazis) and its (their) lengthy history in our nation, is never pretty.] And, sadly, understanding this is so terribly important today .... Along those lines, you should definitely consider reading this if you enjoyed, for example, King's prize-winning Devil in the Grove, Grann's popular Killers of the Flower Moon,, or I dunno, Isabel Wilkerson's monumental/epic Warmth of Other Suns... (that's just to name a few... and a handful of others that come to mind in other contexts are referenced below....)
Due primarily to my interest/background in defense/military aviation and weapons production, my general familiarity with Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford as celebrity and industrialist American Firsters (or Nazi sympathizers or anti-Semites ... you decide for yourself) was typically consumed in the context of their (Lindbergh and Ford's) otherwise impressive (often extraordinary) and laudable achievements. While there are innumerable biographies of both, they're brought together in AJ Baime's (informative, but, frankly, strangely constructed), The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm America at War, which I review at some length here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19729884-the-arsenal-of-democracy ... Obviously, this is a more fulsome, organized, and thoughtful exposition on America First (and, of course, the American Dream).
Among other things, the book did a splendid job convincing me I need to read more by (and more about) Dorothy Thompson, whose words ... in 1941 ... seem spot on, if not prescient, today. Sadly, the book also presents one of the most compelling the apple doesn't fall far from the tree explanations of Donald Trump's instincts, biases, blind spots, actions, and behaviors, including everything from racism and dog-whistling to disinformation.
Reader's nit: The book isn't necessarily an easy or a quick read, and ... given how much of the meat of the story is about words, phrases, and minor tweaks and modifications to definitions and usage and interpretation, the book requires more concentration that is required in, say, serial detective fiction (which, obviously, this isn't). I expect for many readers, this could become a slog (but I didn't find it to be so; indeed, I plowed through it rather quickly). By way of comparison, since it might appeal to a similar readership, I found the pages turned much (much) more quickly in, say, Frum's Trumpocracy, or Snyder's (slim but elegant and extremely worthwhile) On Tyranny than they did here. All I mean to say is that it's a serious book on a serious topic and, accordingly, it requires serious attention to appreciate it.
Also, I haven't read Churchwell before, and my sense is that this book (project, and research) isn't necessarily in the center of her wheelhouse.... And, periodically, I felt it was a strange book ... and I wasn't even sure what I was reading or where it was going (although I got over that relatively quickly) ... because, in some ways, it was more history of language and usage than history, but that's not quite right. Because it is history, and the overall endeavor represents a staggering amount ... and a unique brand ... of research, with extensive identification and description of speeches, books, essays, radio shows, reporting, op-eds, and ... well, you get the idea. And this isn't modest history ... no, rather, it embraces a lengthy period of time, but pulls it all together and presents the research in a cohesive, and, more importantly, compelling manner.
I strongly recommend it (and applaud the author). Well done.