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Did It Happen Here?: Perspectives on Fascism and America
An essential primer for the thoughtful citizen. Since the 2016 election, politicians, historians, intellectuals, and media pundits have debated a startling Is fascism happening here? Some argue that fascism has arrived and, to grasp the challenge it poses, we must gain insight from Europe’s past, lest American democracy succumb. But others question whether this Eurocentric notion truly reflects our political moment, or exemplifies a provincial American perspective on a much more complex global landscape. To illuminate the issues, this anthology offers key texts from the sharpest minds commenting on politics and history, past and present. Jumping off from classic pieces by Hannah Arendt, Angela Davis, Upton Sinclair, Reinhold Niebuhr, Leon Trotsky and others, Did It Happen Here? brings together the most insightful contributors to the contemporary discussion, from Samuel Moyn to Robin DG Kelley to Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Pankaj Mishra. The result is the go-to resource for every politically attuned reader worried about fascism and the politics of fear today.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published March 19, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 7, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and W.W Norton Publishing for a digital ARC of this book.
I want to preface this review by mentioning this is an anthology and I always find it difficult to rate an anthology more often in fiction than non fiction. Here the author has made the choice to include these already written texts but it doesn't mean a couple unnecessary choices changes my my opinion of the entirety of the whole book.
For starters too many people talking about Trump and asking if he is a fascist. And how he changed politics forever. No he didn't, he just said the quiet part out loud and made the fact that politicians lie all the time more obvious than people felt comfortable with.
This book does do a great job of pin pointing the times in history when there was fascist governments and leaders and using them to compare to others in history. I especially appreciated the ones that were not Trump related, as I enjoyed learning more about the interworking of different governments and leaders around the world.
I want to preface this review by mentioning this is an anthology and I always find it difficult to rate an anthology more often in fiction than non fiction. Here the author has made the choice to include these already written texts but it doesn't mean a couple unnecessary choices changes my my opinion of the entirety of the whole book.
For starters too many people talking about Trump and asking if he is a fascist. And how he changed politics forever. No he didn't, he just said the quiet part out loud and made the fact that politicians lie all the time more obvious than people felt comfortable with.
This book does do a great job of pin pointing the times in history when there was fascist governments and leaders and using them to compare to others in history. I especially appreciated the ones that were not Trump related, as I enjoyed learning more about the interworking of different governments and leaders around the world.
March 30, 2024
Shockingly well copyedited
Read
July 17, 2025A quite scholarly collection of essays revolving around the idea of fascism. Very contextual for today’s world.
August 27, 2024
I SPOTTED THIS in the window of Indigo Bridge Bookstore (rest in power, Indigo Bridge!) last March, and a quick scan of the table of contents--Corey Robin! Pankaj Mishra! Robert Paxton!--ensured that I paid my $28.99, plus sales tax, within the next three minutes.
I am a pushover for this sort of thing. I am also reading David Corn's American Psychosis and John Ganz's When the Clock Broke, as well as dispatches from the front lines by Rick Perlstein, Fintan O'Toole, Ezra Klein...I can't leave this sort of thing alone.
Steinmetz-Jenkins gathers a number of interesting takes on the question of whether comparisons of Trumpism to fascism are valid. Some answer yes, some answer no; Robert Paxton answered "no" before January 6 and "yes" afterward. Everyone has something interesting to say. For me, besides the pieces by Robin, Mishra, and Paxton, the perspectives of Sarah Churchwell, Udi Greenberg, Jason Stanley, and Kathleen Belew were especially illuminating.
"No" answers typically see some crucial difference between 1930s model and what Trump (or Modi, or Orban, or Meloni) is pushing. Churchwell has a succinct riposte:
"American fascist energies today are different from 1930s European fascism, but that doesn't mean they're not fascist; it means they're not European and it's not the 1930s."
So, no uniforms, no fulminating about the USSR, no rallies staged by Albert Speer or films made by Leni Reifenstahl...but plenty of white supremacy, plenty of willingness to garrote majority rule and subvert constitutions, plenty of toxic masculinity, plenty of threatened and actual violence.
Steinmetz-Jenkins opens up the question helpfully with (1) a "Global Perspectives" section that reminds us the phenomenon is by no means confined to the United States and (2) a "Classic Texts" section with attempts by Reinhold Niebuhr, Leon Trotsky, and Hannah Arendt to understand 1930s fascism as it was occurring. But, what, no Georges Bataille?
I am a pushover for this sort of thing. I am also reading David Corn's American Psychosis and John Ganz's When the Clock Broke, as well as dispatches from the front lines by Rick Perlstein, Fintan O'Toole, Ezra Klein...I can't leave this sort of thing alone.
Steinmetz-Jenkins gathers a number of interesting takes on the question of whether comparisons of Trumpism to fascism are valid. Some answer yes, some answer no; Robert Paxton answered "no" before January 6 and "yes" afterward. Everyone has something interesting to say. For me, besides the pieces by Robin, Mishra, and Paxton, the perspectives of Sarah Churchwell, Udi Greenberg, Jason Stanley, and Kathleen Belew were especially illuminating.
"No" answers typically see some crucial difference between 1930s model and what Trump (or Modi, or Orban, or Meloni) is pushing. Churchwell has a succinct riposte:
"American fascist energies today are different from 1930s European fascism, but that doesn't mean they're not fascist; it means they're not European and it's not the 1930s."
So, no uniforms, no fulminating about the USSR, no rallies staged by Albert Speer or films made by Leni Reifenstahl...but plenty of white supremacy, plenty of willingness to garrote majority rule and subvert constitutions, plenty of toxic masculinity, plenty of threatened and actual violence.
Steinmetz-Jenkins opens up the question helpfully with (1) a "Global Perspectives" section that reminds us the phenomenon is by no means confined to the United States and (2) a "Classic Texts" section with attempts by Reinhold Niebuhr, Leon Trotsky, and Hannah Arendt to understand 1930s fascism as it was occurring. But, what, no Georges Bataille?
December 19, 2024
A lot to chew on. I'm very happy to have bought a copy so that I will be able to return to the pieces, reread, and continue to think through them. Greatly appreciate the effort to gather multiple perspectives.
December 7, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and W.W Norton Publishing for a digital ARC of this book.
I want to preface this review by mentioning this is an anthology and I always find it difficult to rate an anthology more often in fiction than non fiction. Here the author has made the choice to include these already written texts but it doesn't mean a couple unnecessary choices changes my my opinion of the entirety of the whole book.
For starters too many people talking about Trump and asking if he is a fascist. And how he changed politics forever. No he didn't, he just said the quiet part out loud and made the fact that politicians lie all the time more obvious than people felt comfortable with.
This book does do a great job of pin pointing the times in history when there was fascist governments and leaders and using them to compare to others in history. I especially appreciated the ones that were not Trump related, as I enjoyed learning more about the interworking of different governments and leaders around the world.
I want to preface this review by mentioning this is an anthology and I always find it difficult to rate an anthology more often in fiction than non fiction. Here the author has made the choice to include these already written texts but it doesn't mean a couple unnecessary choices changes my my opinion of the entirety of the whole book.
For starters too many people talking about Trump and asking if he is a fascist. And how he changed politics forever. No he didn't, he just said the quiet part out loud and made the fact that politicians lie all the time more obvious than people felt comfortable with.
This book does do a great job of pin pointing the times in history when there was fascist governments and leaders and using them to compare to others in history. I especially appreciated the ones that were not Trump related, as I enjoyed learning more about the interworking of different governments and leaders around the world.
August 24, 2024
What Fascism in America Will Look Like
This edited collection of essays addresses the question of what is fascism and whether it has or it can occur in the United States from a variety of perspectives. It brings together in one volume of the thinking of older and more recent writers on the subject, including Hannah Arendt, Reinhold Niebuhr, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Sarah Churchwell, and many others. (You’ll find brief biographies in an appendix.)
Readers concerned about the current state of American politics (and who here couldn’t be) will learn about the origins of fascism, the meaning of the system and how difficult it seems to be defining it in American terms, and how Trump and Trumpism fit the mould of our understanding of traditional fascism and how it has manifested in America in the past and how it might look in the present and future.
Readers will find some of the essays clearer than others, but the best for many Americans appears in Part III, “Is Fascism as American as Apple Pie?” In her contribution, “American Fascism,” Sarah Churchwell provides a concise and fairly thorough history of fascist movements between the two world wars and how they might appear again in the Trump age.
This paragraph, one among many quotable in this volume, from “American Fascism” stands out as a warning to Americans in this election season: “American fascist energies today are different from 1930s European fascism, but that doesn’t mean they’re not fascist; it means they’re not European and it’s not the 1930s. They remain organized around classic fascist tropes of nostalgic regeneration, fantasies of racial purity, celebration of authentic folk and nullification of others, scapegoating groups for economic instability or inequality, rejecting the legitimacy of political opponents, the demonization of critics, attacks on a free press, and claims that the will of the people justifies violent imposition of military force. Vestiges of interwar fascism have been dredged up, dressed up, and repurposed for modern times. Colored shirts might not sell anymore, but colored hats are doing great.”
This is an important, thoughtful alert for those who will listen.
This edited collection of essays addresses the question of what is fascism and whether it has or it can occur in the United States from a variety of perspectives. It brings together in one volume of the thinking of older and more recent writers on the subject, including Hannah Arendt, Reinhold Niebuhr, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Sarah Churchwell, and many others. (You’ll find brief biographies in an appendix.)
Readers concerned about the current state of American politics (and who here couldn’t be) will learn about the origins of fascism, the meaning of the system and how difficult it seems to be defining it in American terms, and how Trump and Trumpism fit the mould of our understanding of traditional fascism and how it has manifested in America in the past and how it might look in the present and future.
Readers will find some of the essays clearer than others, but the best for many Americans appears in Part III, “Is Fascism as American as Apple Pie?” In her contribution, “American Fascism,” Sarah Churchwell provides a concise and fairly thorough history of fascist movements between the two world wars and how they might appear again in the Trump age.
This paragraph, one among many quotable in this volume, from “American Fascism” stands out as a warning to Americans in this election season: “American fascist energies today are different from 1930s European fascism, but that doesn’t mean they’re not fascist; it means they’re not European and it’s not the 1930s. They remain organized around classic fascist tropes of nostalgic regeneration, fantasies of racial purity, celebration of authentic folk and nullification of others, scapegoating groups for economic instability or inequality, rejecting the legitimacy of political opponents, the demonization of critics, attacks on a free press, and claims that the will of the people justifies violent imposition of military force. Vestiges of interwar fascism have been dredged up, dressed up, and repurposed for modern times. Colored shirts might not sell anymore, but colored hats are doing great.”
This is an important, thoughtful alert for those who will listen.
September 12, 2025
Reading Did It Happen Here? was both thought-provoking and deeply unsettling in the best possible way. From the very first pages, I could tell this wasn’t just another book about politics, but a serious exploration of one of the most pressing questions of our time: is fascism taking root in America? That blend of past and present gave the book a richness and depth that kept me turning the pages.
What impressed me most was the sheer variety of perspectives. Some contributors make a strong case that fascism is already here, while others urge caution, reminding us of the risks of drawing hasty parallels to Europe in the 20th century. I found myself nodding along with the arguments that expanded the conversation beyond an American or European lens, pushing me to think about fascism as a global phenomenon with many different faces.
By the end, I didn’t walk away with easy answers: and that’s exactly what made the book so powerful. Instead, I was left reflecting on tough, lingering questions: not only whether fascism is part of our current political moment, but also how we might recognize it, resist it, and truly understand its impact in today’s complex world. Did It Happen Here? is a challenging, eye-opening read, and one that will stay with me for a long time.
A huge thanks to NetGalley, the author & the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!!
What impressed me most was the sheer variety of perspectives. Some contributors make a strong case that fascism is already here, while others urge caution, reminding us of the risks of drawing hasty parallels to Europe in the 20th century. I found myself nodding along with the arguments that expanded the conversation beyond an American or European lens, pushing me to think about fascism as a global phenomenon with many different faces.
By the end, I didn’t walk away with easy answers: and that’s exactly what made the book so powerful. Instead, I was left reflecting on tough, lingering questions: not only whether fascism is part of our current political moment, but also how we might recognize it, resist it, and truly understand its impact in today’s complex world. Did It Happen Here? is a challenging, eye-opening read, and one that will stay with me for a long time.
A huge thanks to NetGalley, the author & the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!!
October 26, 2024
In the Trump era, especially in America, there’s been a major uptick in the amount of literature produced defining fascism. For this one, the idea is not to define it for the reader, but to offer a varied perspective on what others have written on the subject over the past century the concept has been a part of the political discourse. Italy and Germany circa World War II remain the model for such discussions, and plenty of authors note how America under Trump is and is not like that. There are also perspectives from African Americans, who note the system of segregation and its implementation met fascist definitions. Overall, this work is one where you read the various perspectives and the author lets you make up your own mind. Actually, that is not a bad thing here. Perhaps it would be simpler if the author said this account or that account is the definitive one, but with so many different perspectives, it is helpful to know the full story before trying to come to a conclusion. The accounts can trend towards academic/dry writing, but the significance makes the work. Worth the time to read.
November 19, 2025
Steinmetz-Jenkins the editor brings together an eclectic selection of historians and social commentators that debate the central question. It’s clear from the selection of essays that the editor carefully and deliberately included voices from all sides of the debate about fascism in the United States. The result is a fair and balanced discussion of fascism in America as of the date of publication.
The authors range from Robert O Paxton writing I’ve Hesitated to Call Donald Trump a Fascist Until Now, to Samuel Moyn from Yale Law School, warning us of The Trouble with Comparisons. Moyn dismisses Trump as, “…an aberration whose rise and fall says nothing about America.” In the essay, Why Trump Isn’t a Fascist, the historian Richard J Evans goes to great lengths to absolve Trump of the appellative.
The authors range from Robert O Paxton writing I’ve Hesitated to Call Donald Trump a Fascist Until Now, to Samuel Moyn from Yale Law School, warning us of The Trouble with Comparisons. Moyn dismisses Trump as, “…an aberration whose rise and fall says nothing about America.” In the essay, Why Trump Isn’t a Fascist, the historian Richard J Evans goes to great lengths to absolve Trump of the appellative.
January 5, 2025
A collection of essays related to the topics of fascism in America, the politics of fear, and fascism in general with a focus on the fascism arguments provoked by Trumpism. I enjoyed the historic essays the most with their information about the inspirations, origins, and strains of fascism. As the "contemporary" essays were largely written between 2016 and 2023 some of the perspectives on American politics are out of date at the beginning of 2025. Many of the contemporary authors and essays argued both that Trump should and should not be considered a fascist but I came away with the feeling expressed in an essay by Peter E. Gordon: "The fascism in Trumpism is largely aspirational, but the aspirations are real."
April 1, 2025
I did not finish this book. Sorry God.
It's a collection of difference essays about fascism as it relates to the US. I am very far from an expert, but I did come away thinking that the definition of fascism is extremely fuzzy and contested, and political. I kind of thought we'd have pinned it down by now but seems like no. I think I come down slightly more on the side of "It's not fascism" in reference to Trump et al. But it's not like I'm ever gonna argue about this with anyone. I can't help but think this whole debate is a little beside the point. Also, none of the essays even had the year of publication attached to them? Seems like that would have been easy.
It's a collection of difference essays about fascism as it relates to the US. I am very far from an expert, but I did come away thinking that the definition of fascism is extremely fuzzy and contested, and political. I kind of thought we'd have pinned it down by now but seems like no. I think I come down slightly more on the side of "It's not fascism" in reference to Trump et al. But it's not like I'm ever gonna argue about this with anyone. I can't help but think this whole debate is a little beside the point. Also, none of the essays even had the year of publication attached to them? Seems like that would have been easy.
August 10, 2025
Great concept for a book, but unfortunately falls victim to the sensationalism around whether Trump and his movement is fascist. The preoccupation with this question comes at the expense of a bigger consideration of the place of fascism in American history. The classic texts about fascism in the United States (by Niebuhr, Angela Davis, Trotsky, and other interesting writers) are cut criminally short, while forgettable and instantly outdated newspaper clippings about Trump are printed in full length. I lost interest.
March 21, 2024
This collection of essays about fascism is interesting and relevant to modern times. There are selections from a wide variety of people and some focus on other parts of the world, while most are about America.
It's especially interesting how some of the things that seem shocking are actually things that could have been predicted or were already prevalent. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
It's especially interesting how some of the things that seem shocking are actually things that could have been predicted or were already prevalent. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
February 8, 2025
It’s a great collection of essays and it’s totally awesome that those who should be reading this… Won’t… But I kinda wish there was more time spent on HOW we got here. The first part is probably my favorite.
April 27, 2024
My review was published in The Washington Times.
Read it here without the paywall.
https://open.substack.com/pub/martind...
Read it here without the paywall.
https://open.substack.com/pub/martind...
June 9, 2024
Thank you for the copy I won from the giveaway. Some sections were more interesting than others. The comparison to the past to the present is scary but needs to be known.
June 20, 2024
Interesting reading.
May 28, 2025
Not what I expected. Multiple essays and opinions, with no final conclusion.
December 31, 2025
I didn’t give this a rating because I haven’t read enough of it to truly know. The essays that I have read, however, have certainly been food for thought and insightful as a non-history person.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews