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The Devil's Advocate: The Epic Novel of One Man's Fight to Save America from Tyranny
Andrew Durrant could have had everything the world had to offer - wealth, fame, honors, authority. All he had to do was sacrifice that fragile thing called integrity. Instead Andrew Durant chose a different path. Against him were ranged the mighty forces of the Establishment. At stake was all he was and could ever hope to be. Here, from the magnificent pen of one of the greatest and most spellbinding storytellers of our days, is one of her most unforgettable novelistic triumphs - the searing, soaring story of an idealistic man in a world of corruption, battling to save both himself and the beautiful woman who had become a helpless pawn in a gigantic game of power and perveristy.
572 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
231 people are currently reading
603 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Caldwell
152 books556 followers Also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner.
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
Taylor Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. In 1907 she emigrated to the United States with her parents and younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, at the age of twelve (although it remained unpublished until 1975). Her father did not approve such activity for women, and sent her to work in a bindery. She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. (In 1947, according to TIME magazine, she discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.)
In 1918-1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919 she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary (known as "Peggy"). From 1923 to 1924 she was a court reporter in New York State Department of Labor in Buffalo, New York. In 1924, she went to work for the United States Department of Justice, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931 she graduated from SUNY Buffalo, and also was divorced from William Combs.
Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, a fellow Justice employee. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith, in 1932. They were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971.
In 1934, she began to work on the novel Dynasty of Death, which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, This Side of Innocence was the biggest fiction seller of 1946. Her works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, though she still lived near Buffalo.
Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. During her career as a writer, she received several awards.
She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the John Birch Society's monthly journal American Opinion and even associated with the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. Her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from American Opinion.
Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation. She had become friends with well-known occultist author Jess Stearn, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. Supposedly, she agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "past-life regression" to disprove reincarnation. According to Stearn's book, The Search of a Soul - Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives, Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives - eleven in all, including one on the "lost continent" of Lemuria.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, an eccentric Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father Marcus; in 1979 Judith committed suicide.
Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write. (She had been deaf since about 1965.) Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.
She died of heart failure in Greenwich, Conn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
October 7, 2012
Taylor Caldwell is the Ozymandius of 20th century Anglo-American letters. She was one of the most well-known and highest paid writers of the mid-century, she wrote more than 40 books, nearly all of them bestsellers. And today, very few people under 60 have even heard her name.
The Devil’s Advocate is not even one of her better known novels, but it has had something of a second life among various right-wing patriot groups, who see in it something of a blueprint of how they are going to fight the war against the government. The novel centers around Andrew Durrant, a Constitutional patriot in an America that has forgotten the Constitution. He is part of a small group of “Minutemen” who infiltrate the government with the intention of making things WORSE for the people so that they will remember their liberties and throw off their oppressors.
I read this book as a teenager, when I was reading books by Richard Bach and Ayn Rand and imagining myself to be an intellectual. And though Ms. Caldwell held many of the same views as Ms. Rand, she was a much better writer and storyteller. I would argue that she was a more powerful thinker as well. The Devil’s Advocate makes a good case against Constitutional mission creep and large-government totalitarianism; today's liberals would do well to consider it carefully.
The Devil’s Advocate is not even one of her better known novels, but it has had something of a second life among various right-wing patriot groups, who see in it something of a blueprint of how they are going to fight the war against the government. The novel centers around Andrew Durrant, a Constitutional patriot in an America that has forgotten the Constitution. He is part of a small group of “Minutemen” who infiltrate the government with the intention of making things WORSE for the people so that they will remember their liberties and throw off their oppressors.
I read this book as a teenager, when I was reading books by Richard Bach and Ayn Rand and imagining myself to be an intellectual. And though Ms. Caldwell held many of the same views as Ms. Rand, she was a much better writer and storyteller. I would argue that she was a more powerful thinker as well. The Devil’s Advocate makes a good case against Constitutional mission creep and large-government totalitarianism; today's liberals would do well to consider it carefully.
February 23, 2008
This book taught me the true meaning of having a cause. Not only believing in that cause but to die for it. It was facinating to explore the courage of his convictions.
Read
September 29, 2025„Trumpocracy“ und andere aktuelle Entwicklungen haben mich in letzter öfter mal an diesen Roman denken lassen, den ich in den 80er Jahren gelesen habe, als Taschenbuch (auf Deutsch „Der Anwalt des Teufels“). Er hatte damals hohe Aktualität, in einer Zeit als es eine reale Gefahr und berechtigte Ängste gab, irgendwann von einer Diktatur, namentlich der UDSSR, überfallen und unterdrückt zu werden.
Der Roman war aber damals schon mehr als 30 Jahre alt. Ich habe ihn trotzdem ziemlich spannend gefunden, und anders als 1984 macht er Hoffnung und Mut zum Widerstand. Dass er eigentlich einem antikommunistischen Spirit der McCarthy Ära entsprungen ist, war mir damals nicht klar und hätte mich vielleicht sogar davon abgehalten den Roman zu lesen. Aber nur auf die simple Roman-Story fokussiert, war da überhaupt nichts Verwerfliches für mich.
Ganz im Gegenteil, in erster Linie war es ein sehr spannender Politthriller.
Inhalt:
Im wesentlichen geht es in dieser Dystopie darum, wie man ein gewalttätiges, alle Lebensbereiche kontrollierendes Regime stürzen kann.
Der einzelne ist machtlos, Widerstandsgruppen sind chancenlos, sie werden gnadenlos bekämpft und mit brutaler Gewalt vernichtet.
Also kommt jemand auf eine Idee!
Man muss MIT DEN WÖLFEN HEULEN, NUR LAUTER!
Er will die Macht infiltrieren, nach ihren Regeln mitspielen und die Unterdrückung und Ungerechtigkeit derart auf die Spitze treiben, bis ein Kipppunkt überschritten ist und das Volk sich gegen die Mächtigen wehrt und das System gestürzt wird.
Warum mir das einfällt, naja einerseits gibt es auch heute wieder einen aktuellen Bezug, auch heute sind Freiheit und Demokratie wieder in Gefahr.
Andererseits Trump: bei ihm muss ich manchmal an das Leitmotiv des Romans denken, nur mit dem Unterschied, dass er den Spieß umdreht.
Leider sind Lösungen in der Realpolitik komplexer als in einem Thriller. Nichtsdestotrotz, wenn ich das Buch nochmal aus einer Kiste ausgraben sollte, würde ich noch mal reinschauen.
Eine Gesamtwertung kann ich nicht mehr abgeben, es ist zu lange her, ich glaube sprachlich war das nicht so besonders, aber als Thriller würde ich ihn wohl mit 5🌟 bewertet haben. Von Taylor Caldwell habe ich danach glaube ich nichts mehr gelesen, weil mich die anderen Romanplots nicht so interessiert haben.
Der Roman war aber damals schon mehr als 30 Jahre alt. Ich habe ihn trotzdem ziemlich spannend gefunden, und anders als 1984 macht er Hoffnung und Mut zum Widerstand. Dass er eigentlich einem antikommunistischen Spirit der McCarthy Ära entsprungen ist, war mir damals nicht klar und hätte mich vielleicht sogar davon abgehalten den Roman zu lesen. Aber nur auf die simple Roman-Story fokussiert, war da überhaupt nichts Verwerfliches für mich.
Ganz im Gegenteil, in erster Linie war es ein sehr spannender Politthriller.
Inhalt:
Im wesentlichen geht es in dieser Dystopie darum, wie man ein gewalttätiges, alle Lebensbereiche kontrollierendes Regime stürzen kann.
Der einzelne ist machtlos, Widerstandsgruppen sind chancenlos, sie werden gnadenlos bekämpft und mit brutaler Gewalt vernichtet.
Also kommt jemand auf eine Idee!
Man muss MIT DEN WÖLFEN HEULEN, NUR LAUTER!
Er will die Macht infiltrieren, nach ihren Regeln mitspielen und die Unterdrückung und Ungerechtigkeit derart auf die Spitze treiben, bis ein Kipppunkt überschritten ist und das Volk sich gegen die Mächtigen wehrt und das System gestürzt wird.
Warum mir das einfällt, naja einerseits gibt es auch heute wieder einen aktuellen Bezug, auch heute sind Freiheit und Demokratie wieder in Gefahr.
Andererseits Trump: bei ihm muss ich manchmal an das Leitmotiv des Romans denken, nur mit dem Unterschied, dass er den Spieß umdreht.
Leider sind Lösungen in der Realpolitik komplexer als in einem Thriller. Nichtsdestotrotz, wenn ich das Buch nochmal aus einer Kiste ausgraben sollte, würde ich noch mal reinschauen.
Eine Gesamtwertung kann ich nicht mehr abgeben, es ist zu lange her, ich glaube sprachlich war das nicht so besonders, aber als Thriller würde ich ihn wohl mit 5🌟 bewertet haben. Von Taylor Caldwell habe ich danach glaube ich nichts mehr gelesen, weil mich die anderen Romanplots nicht so interessiert haben.
December 12, 2013
This Dystopia falls somewhere between the Orwellian world of 1984 and the Ayn Rand vision of future events as presented in Atlas Shrugged. The world has fallen into “Sections” of countries which are engaged in almost perpetual states of war with each other. Ordinary citizens work in factories designed for the production of military armaments and other industries designed to support the military complex which prevails.
The upper classes of citizens include the Farmers who manage large tracts which efficiently produce adequate and beyond by utilizing slave labor. In order to maintain ‘order” and preserve the status quo, much “excess” is destroyed in order to ensure minimal levels of supply for the citizenship, thus keeping them perpetually distressed and unable to focus on aspects of their conditions beyond actual sustenance. Other groups in the societal hierarchy include government bureaucrats, and the military in the top tier.
'The Democracy' has been the entity which replaced the former United States of America decades ago following the Second World War and just prior to WW3 & WW4. This year 1970 has seen the onset of a new war with certain of the upstart South American nations and the cry is once again for “Unity, and Sacrifice.”
The underground Minute Men organization has repeatedly seen many of its members captured, tortured, and eliminated. One such is Andrew Durant who has been subjected to intensive interrogation and has seen the failure of several others of his cohorts who succumb to torture and betray what information that they possessed. Only Durant and another Minuteman named ’Christian’ have withstood the 'test' and each is given a new mission designed to hasten the advent of the restored Republic of the United States. The Torturer in Chief is secretly a very highly placed official who provides the subjects with new identities and credentials to be used in forwarding the mission.
The bulk of this work involves Durant's manipulations of rules and regulations in the particular Section which he assumes control of. His guiding purpose becomes to increase hardships in order to enhance the desperation of the populace and spur them to accelerate to the new revolution.
The Author proceeds to express ideas on just what is the primary motivation of the men who have assumed control in this democracy which is reminiscent of the Soviet system with endless shortages and incessant propaganda and ersatz media reports of abundant civil pride and nationalism.
Certainly the subject is one of redemption including the hope of a restoration to those lost things which are a result of an endemic failure to remain vigilant concerning representative government. To one (such as myself) who has not before read this Author, other works are reported to be Biblically themed, which makes many aspects of this work unsurprising regarding the ultimate weaknesses of humans and tendency toward failure. Such failures which are first of all avoidable, can be rectified through intervention, intercession, or through a formula using recognition of the causes of the issues and reliance upon lofty principles and determination. A Messianic figure who is profoundly mortal yet instilled with hope and the drive to be instrumental in the eventual overturning of the evil system that is what inevitably finds its way into any void when men are collectively remiss in their most important societal obligations.
I was anxious to read this book and I found it to be saturated with profound quotes which sum up nicely the responsibilities of a people and culture to adhere to the principles and concepts which were instrumental in establishing our Republic of the United States in the first place.
The upper classes of citizens include the Farmers who manage large tracts which efficiently produce adequate and beyond by utilizing slave labor. In order to maintain ‘order” and preserve the status quo, much “excess” is destroyed in order to ensure minimal levels of supply for the citizenship, thus keeping them perpetually distressed and unable to focus on aspects of their conditions beyond actual sustenance. Other groups in the societal hierarchy include government bureaucrats, and the military in the top tier.
'The Democracy' has been the entity which replaced the former United States of America decades ago following the Second World War and just prior to WW3 & WW4. This year 1970 has seen the onset of a new war with certain of the upstart South American nations and the cry is once again for “Unity, and Sacrifice.”
The underground Minute Men organization has repeatedly seen many of its members captured, tortured, and eliminated. One such is Andrew Durant who has been subjected to intensive interrogation and has seen the failure of several others of his cohorts who succumb to torture and betray what information that they possessed. Only Durant and another Minuteman named ’Christian’ have withstood the 'test' and each is given a new mission designed to hasten the advent of the restored Republic of the United States. The Torturer in Chief is secretly a very highly placed official who provides the subjects with new identities and credentials to be used in forwarding the mission.
The bulk of this work involves Durant's manipulations of rules and regulations in the particular Section which he assumes control of. His guiding purpose becomes to increase hardships in order to enhance the desperation of the populace and spur them to accelerate to the new revolution.
The Author proceeds to express ideas on just what is the primary motivation of the men who have assumed control in this democracy which is reminiscent of the Soviet system with endless shortages and incessant propaganda and ersatz media reports of abundant civil pride and nationalism.
Certainly the subject is one of redemption including the hope of a restoration to those lost things which are a result of an endemic failure to remain vigilant concerning representative government. To one (such as myself) who has not before read this Author, other works are reported to be Biblically themed, which makes many aspects of this work unsurprising regarding the ultimate weaknesses of humans and tendency toward failure. Such failures which are first of all avoidable, can be rectified through intervention, intercession, or through a formula using recognition of the causes of the issues and reliance upon lofty principles and determination. A Messianic figure who is profoundly mortal yet instilled with hope and the drive to be instrumental in the eventual overturning of the evil system that is what inevitably finds its way into any void when men are collectively remiss in their most important societal obligations.
I was anxious to read this book and I found it to be saturated with profound quotes which sum up nicely the responsibilities of a people and culture to adhere to the principles and concepts which were instrumental in establishing our Republic of the United States in the first place.
August 26, 2020
I originally bought this book about 12 years ago on a recommendation that it was a good dystopian novel. Instead, it turned out to be a confused, disorganized, and hysterical reaction to the Soviet menace that must have resonated more effectively in an emotional and political sense during the height of the Red Scare, when it was written. At times it borders on cartoonish propaganda, frequently coming within inches of actually making a cogent observation, then veering wildly off into bonkers reactionary territory that makes axiomatic and ungrounded blanket assertions of cause and effect rather than having a genuine understanding of the orthogonal and incomplete overlap of Soviet-style and fascist totalitarianism.
Blame for the alternate-history dystopian slide into what Caldwell is unable to correctly label as right-wing authoritarianism is laid collectively at the feet of:
- godlessness
- psychiatrists
- academics and intellectuals
- "progressive democracy"
...which led me to do further research, only to discover that this book still lingers as a mainstay of right-wing "patriot" militias and organizations, and may be partially responsible for the birth of the misleadingly-named Constitution Party.
Caldwell is a fine storyteller, but this book comes from a severely outmoded, uninformed, and opinion-based "understanding" of authoritarian power structures and attitudes, and should be consigned to museums as an insidiously damaging relic of anti-Soviet hysteria.
Blame for the alternate-history dystopian slide into what Caldwell is unable to correctly label as right-wing authoritarianism is laid collectively at the feet of:
- godlessness
- psychiatrists
- academics and intellectuals
- "progressive democracy"
...which led me to do further research, only to discover that this book still lingers as a mainstay of right-wing "patriot" militias and organizations, and may be partially responsible for the birth of the misleadingly-named Constitution Party.
Caldwell is a fine storyteller, but this book comes from a severely outmoded, uninformed, and opinion-based "understanding" of authoritarian power structures and attitudes, and should be consigned to museums as an insidiously damaging relic of anti-Soviet hysteria.
April 14, 2020
A McCarthy-ite responds to Orwell's 1984
I tried, but 30% in, just couldn't take it anymore. So right wing in tone. Everything collapsed because those damn Roosevelt liberals weakened the race, and turned their backs on God. Go McCarthy go! Root out those commies under the bed, and kill them all, before our nation is turned into a Stalinist nightmare. Yeesh.
The Minute Men are good because they torture, maim and kill their own, before the enemy can do it. Huh? Then, those who survive, are sent out to eat away The Democracy from within, to foment revolution, even though the vast majority don't deserve this gift since they are mindless sheep.
Ayn Rand would have been proud, but not my view of humanity or where dystopia lies.
I tried, but 30% in, just couldn't take it anymore. So right wing in tone. Everything collapsed because those damn Roosevelt liberals weakened the race, and turned their backs on God. Go McCarthy go! Root out those commies under the bed, and kill them all, before our nation is turned into a Stalinist nightmare. Yeesh.
The Minute Men are good because they torture, maim and kill their own, before the enemy can do it. Huh? Then, those who survive, are sent out to eat away The Democracy from within, to foment revolution, even though the vast majority don't deserve this gift since they are mindless sheep.
Ayn Rand would have been proud, but not my view of humanity or where dystopia lies.
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August 28, 2009This book shows you the true face of those in this society who act as angels but they are the true devils on earth.
December 30, 2011
Taylor Caldwell's prolific writing ability is greatly missed. Each of her books are a work of art.
July 29, 2016
I read this in high school and finally remembered the name of it so I may read it again. The world to me seemed bleak; an alternate reality of USA gone horribly wrong.
June 21, 2012
I was very impressed with this book. It's a serious page-turner once you hit the last 100 or so pages. Since I greatly enjoy alternate history (or whatever the genre may be called...if it is a genre), this book was right up my alley. I was also impressed with the speech at the end, as well, though it was very lengthy (what presidential speech isn't??). Not an action book, but very much a musing story that leaves you wondering what if things had happened that way. I do wish Caldwell had gone more into the history of how this alternative world had come about. She does touch on it in passing and hints often enough, which leaves plenty open to the imagination, but left me wanting to know more!
August 29, 2018
This work, written in the 50's, in my opinion portrays a vivid picture of the direction in which the American republic is currently heading. The likeness to today's political/social scene is alarming; let us sacrifice various liberties in the name of security......again and again.
Should be required reading.
Should be required reading.
January 15, 2009
Pretty good novel centering around a patriot who takes an seemingly unpatriotic position in a totalitarian government with the goal of pushing the citizenry into the action needed to overthrow the oppressive government. Not like Caldwell's biblical fiction, but quite good.
October 6, 2012
better than 1984
November 13, 2012
This book is outstanding!
January 2, 2022
I have mixed feelings about this book. First it was a very good story. The protagonist seems to take his problems to the bottle a little to much...but doesn't suffer much from it. The story would have been sorter if we took out all the whisky scenes.
The philosophy is interesting...how the USA got to be under a totalitarian regime under the military. It seems that it has come to past under Operation Warp Speed. Though it hasn't completely played out it is a military operation that has a life changing effect on the whole world. This is interesting because in this book it isn't just the US that changes it's government back to a republic but the whole world shrugs off it's shackles. So in a scene a New World Order. Taylor Caldwell is catholic, at least most of her characters are. Did she write this as a prompt...how to create a New World Order? A good Youtube channel that makes me wonder more is called Gematria Effect News 24.
I am not sure things would play out the way she imagines or the way that people that believe in Qanon and the Plan (is it a 12 step plan? lol) would see this happening. Even if everyone sees the problem to get everyone to see and understand the solution when they have been so dumb down by school...that help create the problem...means there is no solution. See Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling and Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through The Dark World of Compulsory Schooling
The philosophy is interesting...how the USA got to be under a totalitarian regime under the military. It seems that it has come to past under Operation Warp Speed. Though it hasn't completely played out it is a military operation that has a life changing effect on the whole world. This is interesting because in this book it isn't just the US that changes it's government back to a republic but the whole world shrugs off it's shackles. So in a scene a New World Order. Taylor Caldwell is catholic, at least most of her characters are. Did she write this as a prompt...how to create a New World Order? A good Youtube channel that makes me wonder more is called Gematria Effect News 24.
I am not sure things would play out the way she imagines or the way that people that believe in Qanon and the Plan (is it a 12 step plan? lol) would see this happening. Even if everyone sees the problem to get everyone to see and understand the solution when they have been so dumb down by school...that help create the problem...means there is no solution. See Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling and Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through The Dark World of Compulsory Schooling
January 10, 2020
Set in Philadelphia in the not-too-distant future, The United States of America no longer exists, replaced by The Democracy, an authoritarian, totalitarian government. The US Constitution is abolished. The Stars & Stripes, the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, are forbidden and mostly forgotten. The military, through its selection of the President and its control over all things, has absolute rule. The government owns the means of production and pursues ongoing wars all over the world. Dissent is not tolerated. It is a bleak existence. However, a group of secret resisters called The Minutemen quietly go about their work of preparing for the future when the people will rise up in rebellion and reclaim what was America. The book includes a number of Caldwell's common themes: self-reliance, individualism, struggle for justice, governmental restriction on personal freedom.
Can't miss the many parallels and similarities between the book (first published in 1952) and certain events and personalities in American politics of 2020.
Can't miss the many parallels and similarities between the book (first published in 1952) and certain events and personalities in American politics of 2020.
June 17, 2025
Wow. Just wow. My first purposely picked dystopian book. Caldwell blurs the lines of communism, stratocracy, red/blue regime. But that’s not even the point of the book. The point is how a people lose their way and defend an administration, even to their detriment. Which is why it is so relevant today. I read a previous comment that it was a book for the Right-leaning. It’s not. It’s actually more left leaning, in that the military and people and administration realize that what they voted for is NOT in their best interest. When all liberties and rights are taken away, it leaves the populace poor…in heart, in spirit, in health and wealth…in everything. Interesting read, especially considering this book was written in 1952! I love Taylor Caldwell, and wish she would get more recognition for all the novels she’s written.
December 5, 2024
I recently re-read and reviewed John Ball's The First Team without using the word, dystopian. While this novel pushes a little further in that direction, I still think of it as a political thriller.
Written at the dawn of the Cold War, Caldwell had a very specific point of view. Clearly anti-communist, she didn't trust the mainstream public to defend their rights. Her story of decay begins in 1933. An odd choice, but it propels the narrative.
I've been wanting to re-read this novel for at least a decade. Incredibly hard to find, it has now surfaced as an ebook.
As soon as I started, it sucked me into its pages, just as it did 45 years ago.
Written at the dawn of the Cold War, Caldwell had a very specific point of view. Clearly anti-communist, she didn't trust the mainstream public to defend their rights. Her story of decay begins in 1933. An odd choice, but it propels the narrative.
I've been wanting to re-read this novel for at least a decade. Incredibly hard to find, it has now surfaced as an ebook.
As soon as I started, it sucked me into its pages, just as it did 45 years ago.
April 8, 2014
Read this first in 1971 on a trip up the Alaska Highway...it's a political alternate history of sorts, where the US is dominated by liberal totalitarians (yeah, right) who stomp on everyone's freedoms for kicks.
Nowadays, that's a common ultra-right-wing fantasy theme (the author was a Bircher) but I'd never heard of something like this before. Strictly speaking, it is NOT alternate history, because there's no point of divergence.
I fell for it because I felt it was compellingly written, though I imagine that if I were to reread it today, it would come across as a parody of itself. That's the difference between 14 and 57, I guess!
Nowadays, that's a common ultra-right-wing fantasy theme (the author was a Bircher) but I'd never heard of something like this before. Strictly speaking, it is NOT alternate history, because there's no point of divergence.
I fell for it because I felt it was compellingly written, though I imagine that if I were to reread it today, it would come across as a parody of itself. That's the difference between 14 and 57, I guess!
May 8, 2019
"Tyrants are so full of pleasant promises; they are so skillful in arraying one section of a people against another, in stimulating false suspicions, false hatreds, false envies, and natural human greed. When we Americans should have stood together, defying with our votes and our voices and our anger each tyrant as he appeared, we turned our innate and instinctive jealousies and dislikes upon our neighbors. We betrayed each other." --Taylor Caldwell
It is now 2019. I have nothing more to say.
It is now 2019. I have nothing more to say.
October 8, 2008
Copyright 1952, This book is a realistic wizard of OZ. It renewed my faith in this country and the people in charge.
April 30, 2010
Great read!
June 14, 2024
Reads almost like an instruction manual on how to destroy a country. Comparisons to 1984 are inevitable and it’s both a blessing and a curse because very few books of that kind can rise to that level. Just the same, it’s a solid book.
One can’t help but feel like Caldwell is a prophet writing a book in the 50’s that seems so relevant to the state of our government and politics today but it is easy to forget that failed forms of government and evil leaders and politicians have destroyed countries time and again over the course of history. Despite the fact that history repeats itself, we tend to forget this as we pursue and advocate for the very tyranny that has oppressed countless nations before us: Socialism, Communism, Progressivism, etc.
“Perhaps some good will come out of their evil. If the people refused, forever, to be relegated to any class, to be designated as any ‘group’ apart from the main body of the nation, it would be good. For the people would have learned that they were not mere plodding and mindless dwellers in the narrow confines of any class; they would know that they were men, individuals, proud and immortal souls, accountable only to fellow men for justice, accountable only to God for their lives and their rights.”
One can’t help but feel like Caldwell is a prophet writing a book in the 50’s that seems so relevant to the state of our government and politics today but it is easy to forget that failed forms of government and evil leaders and politicians have destroyed countries time and again over the course of history. Despite the fact that history repeats itself, we tend to forget this as we pursue and advocate for the very tyranny that has oppressed countless nations before us: Socialism, Communism, Progressivism, etc.
“Perhaps some good will come out of their evil. If the people refused, forever, to be relegated to any class, to be designated as any ‘group’ apart from the main body of the nation, it would be good. For the people would have learned that they were not mere plodding and mindless dwellers in the narrow confines of any class; they would know that they were men, individuals, proud and immortal souls, accountable only to fellow men for justice, accountable only to God for their lives and their rights.”
October 25, 2022
Given its subject matter and general plot I thought I'd really like this book. But, I didn't. It is a story about an attempt to bring down a horribly tyrannical future U.S. government. My fundamental problem is that the whole approach to how the good guys were going to do this seemed really unrealistic. (I won't put in a spoiler about how it all turns out.) I just couldn't get past it and suspend disbelief, so the story never pulled me in.
Part of the issue may have been that a lot of my experience was listening to it by having Google Books read the e-book version to me (no audiobook was available). To say that was annoying is an understatement. Let's put it this way: The Google synthesized voice is no Karen Savage.
One part I thought was mildly interesting was that Ms. Caldwell had the main character pontificate on how the country allowed itself to be wooed into accepting a tyranny through people accepting more and more limitations to their freedom in exchange for either profit or security. It was clearly her attempt to warn us of where she thought things were going.
Part of the issue may have been that a lot of my experience was listening to it by having Google Books read the e-book version to me (no audiobook was available). To say that was annoying is an understatement. Let's put it this way: The Google synthesized voice is no Karen Savage.
One part I thought was mildly interesting was that Ms. Caldwell had the main character pontificate on how the country allowed itself to be wooed into accepting a tyranny through people accepting more and more limitations to their freedom in exchange for either profit or security. It was clearly her attempt to warn us of where she thought things were going.
December 21, 2019
An interesting story. I was not able to be 'captivated' and/or 'absorbed' by this tale as much as I had hoped for; that may be partially due to the Kindle version having no definable chapters, just one long run-on continuum - a trudging read that way.
Retaining his integrity, Durrant departs from 'having it all' despite massive opposition. As one has stated: "...the searing, soaring story of an idealistic man in a world of corruption, battling to save both himself and the beautiful woman who had become a helpless pawn in a gigantic game of power and perveristy."
Excerpt:
“He’s half blind, and almost totally deaf. The walking dead, we call him.” Durant laughed. “Like thousands of other civilians one sees every day.”
Somewhat related to the works "On the Beach" & "I Am Legend", as well as the recent novel "The Wrath of God: A Novel" [Jim Balzotti]
Retaining his integrity, Durrant departs from 'having it all' despite massive opposition. As one has stated: "...the searing, soaring story of an idealistic man in a world of corruption, battling to save both himself and the beautiful woman who had become a helpless pawn in a gigantic game of power and perveristy."
Excerpt:
“He’s half blind, and almost totally deaf. The walking dead, we call him.” Durant laughed. “Like thousands of other civilians one sees every day.”
Somewhat related to the works "On the Beach" & "I Am Legend", as well as the recent novel "The Wrath of God: A Novel" [Jim Balzotti]
February 9, 2020
"In the end they had lost everything, their freedom as men, their rights as men, their dignity as men, and had become nothing else but slaves of an omnipotent State, working endlessly, half-starved, half-clothed, half-sheltered in ruined buildings, endlessly spied upon, supervised, commanded by the Military and treated like dogs."
Although what will be after the Constitution destroying socialist takeover of the USA is fine, this book is too wordy with lengthy conversations saying the same things. The Democracy enslaves the citizenry with phony wars that justify the abolishment of freedom. All covered in the first few pages. I decided to put aside after skim mode was showing no plot progress.
Before TV this now dated words-by-the-pound kind of saga would sell. A sleep inducing lecture in disguise.
** standard for unfinished.
Although what will be after the Constitution destroying socialist takeover of the USA is fine, this book is too wordy with lengthy conversations saying the same things. The Democracy enslaves the citizenry with phony wars that justify the abolishment of freedom. All covered in the first few pages. I decided to put aside after skim mode was showing no plot progress.
Before TV this now dated words-by-the-pound kind of saga would sell. A sleep inducing lecture in disguise.
** standard for unfinished.
October 17, 2020
One of my favorites because of the way to pretend to be a villian in name of the liberty to claim their liberty, losing the right to be seen as a Heroe. El autor hace énfasis en como una sociedad puede aceptar cambios perniciosos para sus derech0s y para su soberanía y cuando el ejercito impone su mano dura sobre ellos, nadie se levanta por miedo, hasta que un grupo de rebeldes busca convertirse en Abogados del diablo, vistiendo los colores de sus opresores y ejerciendo una presión intolerable para que el pueblo se levante en armas, muchas muertes son el precio de la libertad, pero sin embargo, cuando un régimen cae, otro nuevo nace. Nada es suficiente para el ejército, es el lema que se repite una y otra vez, se ha proclamado una guerra constante, lo cual mantiene a las masas pensando en que tendrán que dejar a sus hijos combatir en nombre del estado.
October 19, 2020
¿Qué pasaría si el comunismo fuera la doctrina imperante en los Estados Unidos? en este libro Taylor Caldwell desarrolla una historia alternativa a la realidad actual, demostrando que las tiranías socialistas llegan a su fin una vez que las clases privilegiadas del régimen sufren los estragos que aquejan a la mayoría del pueblo.
Una narración bastante profunda y descriptiva de una realidad que bien pudiera presentarse en algún momento de la historia, finalmente, la historia ha demostrado que todas las naciones caen en determinado momento debido a su propia degradación social.
Una narración bastante profunda y descriptiva de una realidad que bien pudiera presentarse en algún momento de la historia, finalmente, la historia ha demostrado que todas las naciones caen en determinado momento debido a su propia degradación social.
December 31, 2022
Terrifying
A book that should be required reading, but alas it will instead become the story foretelling the downfall of America. It’s history we could stop in it’s tracks if the masses only realized the barbarism they are willing walking themselves into. Like the narrative of this story, we are giving up our liberty for the sake of false security and there will be a terrible price to pay. Ask a holocaust survivor … they walked themselves into the ovens at Auschwitz — I wonder where ours will be located.
A book that should be required reading, but alas it will instead become the story foretelling the downfall of America. It’s history we could stop in it’s tracks if the masses only realized the barbarism they are willing walking themselves into. Like the narrative of this story, we are giving up our liberty for the sake of false security and there will be a terrible price to pay. Ask a holocaust survivor … they walked themselves into the ovens at Auschwitz — I wonder where ours will be located.
September 18, 2018
The book was absurd. It was so i.Incredibly so farfetched that it was a torture to get through it. Every character, every event was so exaggerated that it was almost laughable. This with page after page of misguided philosophy about society, economics and government made the book tedious and long. I have read several novels by Taylor Caldwell before and have generally enjoyed them, she is a very good writer, but this was not a good effort on her part.
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