Blog post

The Trump Years and How They Befell Us

In American Breakdown, David Bromwich connects the hollowing out of American democracy and the rise of Trump to decades of imperialism, neoliberal policies, and a strengthening of executive power.

David Bromwich25 June 2019

The Trump Years and How They Befell Us

David Bromwich provides an essential analysis of the forces in play beneath the surface of our political system. His portraits of political leaders and overarching narrative bring to life the events and machinations that have led America to a collective breakdown.  

The political conditions of the present crisis were put in place over fifty years ago, with the expansion of the Vietnam War and the lies and coverups that brought down Nixon. Since then, every presidency has further centralized and strengthened executive power. An unsparing account of the degradation of US democracy, American Breakdown is essential to our evaluation of its prospects. Arguing that Trump’s re-election seems just as likely as impeachment, Bromwich turns his attention to the new struggles within the Democratic Party on immigration, foreign policy, and the Green New Deal.

American Breakdown: The Trump Years and How They Befell Us by David Bromwich is 40% off until Monday, July 1 at 11:59PM EST.

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“One of the most incisive writers in America today.”
– Edward Mendelson

“Bromwich is particularly sharp on the way government spokesmen wrap the realities of massacre, torture, and gratuitous cruelty in euphemism … A critic in the tradition of Hazlitt and Orwell.”
– Alan Ryan

“For several decades, David Bromwich has stood out among American critics as one of the most daring and knowledgeable challengers of received opinion and orthodoxies.”
– Margery Sabin 

American Breakdown
American Breakdown is the brilliant political diary of one of America’s leading essayists, David Bromwich, whose work has drawn wide appreciation for its incisive portraits and accurate prognosis. ...

Filed under: us-politics, uselection2016