The Plot Against America
From Shelf: Books recommended during the podcast The Rest is Politics (organised shortest to longest)
When the renowned aviation hero and rabid isolationist Charles A Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt by a landslide in the 1940 presidential election, fear invades every Jewish household in America. Lindbergh publicly blamed the Jews for pushing America towards a pointless war with Nazi Germany.
'He captures better than anyone the collision of public and private, the intrusion of history into the skin, the pores of every individual alive' Guardian'Though on the morning after the election disbelief prevailed, especially among the pollsters, by the next everybody seemed to understand everything...'When celebrity aviator, Charles A. Lindbergh, wins the 1940 presidential election on the slogan of 'America First', fear invades every Jewish household. Not only has Lindbergh blamed the Jews for pushing America towards war with Germany, he has negotiated an 'understanding' with the Nazis promising peace between the two nations.Growing up in the 'ghetto' of Newark, Philip Roth recounts his childhood caught in the stranglehold of this counterfactual nightmare. As America sinks into its own dark metamorphosis and Jewish families are torn apart, fear and uncertainty spread.Who really is President Lindbergh?And to what end has he hijacked America?__________________________'Many passages in The Plot Against America echo feelings voiced today by vulnerable Americans - immigrants and minorities as alarmed by Trump's election as the Jews of Newark are frightened by Lindbergh's' New Yorker**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**
RRP: £9.99
Format: Paperback / softback
ISBN: 9780099478560
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