Fascism: A Warning
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4.4 • 78 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
?#1 New York Times Bestseller
“Albright outlines the warning signs of fascism and offers concrete actions for restoring America’s values and reputation. There is priceless wisdom on every page.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Fascism [is] the work of a woman who knows authoritarianism when she sees it. And she sees the seeds of it not only in a slew of leaders hell bent on subverting democratic norms—Turkey’s Erdogan, Venezuela’s Maduro, Hungary’s Orbán, and others—but also in Donald Trump, whom she calls in the book ‘the first antidemocratic president in modern U.S. history.’” — The Daily Beast
A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of the most admired public servants in American history, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state
A Fascist, observed Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.”
The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era. Fascism: A Warning is drawn from Madeleine Albright's experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption.
Fascism, as she shows, not only endured through the twentieth century but now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II. The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse. The United States, which historically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates division and heaps scorn on democratic institutions. In many countries, economic, technological, and cultural factors are weakening the political center and empowering the extremes of right and left. Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are employing many of the tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s and 30s.
Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times. Written by someone who not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand and the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past.
Customer Reviews
Good Read—Not Honest Enough re: America’s Global Role
The authors provides a good historical overview over the rises of a number of different regimes and provides good insight into the dangers that modern America faces. I would love to see her thoughts on America’s direction post-Trump
Given that a central premise of the book is the role America has historically played in spreading/protecting democracy across the world, I would say that the author wraps herself in the American flag too tightly without giving enough space to how the “contradictions” of America (she briefly touches on internal racism and supporting dictatorships abroad as two such contradictions) have affected the nation’s credibility abroad even prior to Trump’s election.
Specifically, I found the placement of the chapter about Hugo Chávez to be ill fitting. Latin America has a long history of authoritarian leaders (many who were supported or even installed by the US in the first place including Pinochet who the author mentions in passing). While Chavez undoubtedly took some measures that weakened democratic institutions in Venezuela once elected, he was still DEMOCRATICALLY elected a number of times, and the US was more than neutral regarding the the unlawful coup that led to Chávez’s brief ouster in Latin America. The US has supported far worse than Chávez in Latin America and has consistently supported underhanded anti-Democratic forces in Latin America in the guise of supporting “democracy.”
The author does briefly touch on the US being friendly with certain authoritarian regimes (Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as two examples); however, I would have liked to a more honest discussion of how the US weakens it’s moral authority when it props up anti-democratic regimes when it sees fit and even attacks democratic regimes when it sees fit.
Nonetheless, very insightful read
Excellent book!
This book needs to be read/listen to by everyone with consciousness and desire to preserve humanity in this world!
A must-buy
A must-listen book, especially in these unprecedented times. Should probably be considered required reading in high schools and colleges for its insight and introduction to what fascism looks like.
Although the middle sags just a little, it nonetheless makes up for it in historical accuracy and warnings about future fascist regimes.
Especially when on sale, Fascism: A Warning should be an instant buy for anyone with even the slightest interest in history, poli-sci, or the future of America and other countries around the world.