A review by theellabelle
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow

challenging dark medium-paced

4.5

This is such compelling and important history and the parallels to contemporary American politics are impossible to miss. It can get a little lost in the historical details at times, I think probably more so if you are not a big history person, but Maddow does an excellent job highlighting the pervasive antisemitism and the deeply rooted threads of fascism in American life, even amid WWII. However, by listening to this on audio I could not help but compare it to ULTRA, the podcast Maddow made on the same subject and which I think does a better job at capturing the raw drama of this period. I wish I had read it in print, as I think it may have helped me differentiate between the two and reduced the sense of repetition. I would still strongly recommend that everyone read or listen to either the book or the podcast--this history is not well known and yet it something that every American should know so that when confronted with these same challenges we can rise to meet them successfully.