Tannehill, a frequent national columnist and a formal naval aviator, digs into the past, present, and future of the U.S. and the GOP, with an eye for the historic roots of prevailing trends and tendencies. Tannehill draws links between Pravda and Fox News, between the tenets of Russian propaganda and what posts blow up on Facebook, and between the “systemic disenfranchisement” that “was the cornerstone” of maintaining white Evangelical power in southern states after the Civil War and the gerrymandering and new voting laws that have, in recent years, helped the GOP become “the most powerful far-right party in the Western world.”

In crisp, stinging prose, Tannehill makes a case, digging deeper and wider than other books in the field while still demonstrating some playful elan even when the prognosis gets dire— the section “The End of America is Coming” is introduced with an on-point quote from Jean Luc Picard. Liberals, Democrats, and many open-minded independents will likely find Tannehill’s warning and analysis persuasive, though a tendency to indulge in sweeping shorthand when describing the beliefs and motivations of ideological opponents (and to offer phrasing like “There is a toxic confluence of whiteness and Christianity . . .”) by default limits its reach.

Takeaway: A sharply argued polemic accusing the Republican Party of actively subverting democracy.

Great for fans of: Zachary Roth’s The Great Suppression, Richard L. Hasen’s Election Meltdown.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-