Illiberal America

Reviews

"Hahn’s endeavor, undertaken with remarkable subtlety, breadth of historical detail, and electrifying prose…is not to indict the American past, only to reveal it—and to show that illiberalism has its own rich and mutable tradition." — Sam Adler-Bell, Washington Post

"Hahn’s achievement is connecting this sort of dimly remembered revanchism to more infamous episodes—Jim Crow, McCarthyism, South Boston’s violent revolt against school integration—and revealing a larger and more influential illiberalism than our popular history has allowed." — David Scharfenberg, Boston Globe

"Hahn’s provocative synthesis should stimulate…a new look at liberalism itself.… What Hahn, and the voluminous scholarship on which his book is built, make clear is that the notion of an inevitable liberal ‘consensus’ that grew organically out of the nation’s founding was wrong.… [M]odern liberalism had to survive in a fraught political culture, one where liberal values were hard to secure and often barely survived." — Julian E. Zelizer, New Republic

"No reader can come away from Professor Hahn’s book without recognizing that he has identified a fundamental truth: There is an illiberal strand or current in American history that is racist, sexist, xenophobic and narrow-minded, parochial, and exclusionary." — Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed

"Most timely and relevant." — Ana Daniel, East Hampton Star

"Hahn looks through a different lens at a parallel illiberal tradition that runs through [our] history.… Appreciating this history puts recent divisiveness and the upending of long-standing norms since the political rise of Donald Trump in valuable perspective; the current upheaval has deep and broad roots." — Jessica T. Mathews, Foreign Affairs

"Hahn’s handiwork is a great leap forward…insofar as it marshals a history that aids in comprehension of the present troubled moment." — Gerald Horne, Convergence

"Steven Hahn has written the definitive history of the illiberalism that informs our “troubles.” Read this book carefully. Understand what we are up against and find the resources in our traditions to fight for the America we want. An indispensable book for these dark days!" — Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again

"An instant classic.… Steven Hahn transforms our understanding of the multiple traditions embedded in the American past, including a deeply rooted disdain for the ideals of democracy and equality. If you want to understand the historical origins of our present condition, this is the place to start." — Eric Foner, author of The Second Founding

"Steven Hahn takes full measure of this nation’s entrenched histories of exclusion, inequality, and violence. This is an outstanding book, essential for understanding our own moment." — Kate Masur, author of Until Justice Be Done

"In a tour de force, Steven Hahn makes a very powerful argument that illiberalism—and not conservatism much less fascism—is the best way to think of this country’s long history of opposition to political equality. In the glut of books hoping to make sense of the current crisis, Hahn’s Illiberal America stands out as the most nuanced, elegant, and convincing." — Greg Grandin, author of The End of the Myth

"Brilliant and timely.… Steven Hahn reveals the pervasive entanglement of liberal visions and illiberal restraints throughout American history. No recent invention or fundamental heresy, illiberalism has been as American as cherry pie." — Alan Taylor, author of American Civil Wars

"Clear-eyed and beautifully written…a remarkable reinterpretation of the country's past." — Kim Phillips-Fein, author of Fear City

"Steven Hahn persuasively dismantles the idea that the recent and terrifying threats to liberal democracy represent an alarming departure from the American tradition. Instead, this revelatory book reminds us, such threats have been a constant, recurring theme—and knowing that should make us more optimistic that we can overcome them once again." — Nicholas Lemann, author of Transaction Man

"Steven Hahn’s Illiberal America is a brilliantly conceived reframing of our national past and how it has shaped the present. Hahn’s prodigious research and insightful analysis illustrate how illiberalism has always been a powerful, sometimes even central, feature of American society. In so doing, he allows us to imagine a history beyond American exceptionalism. Essential reading." — Peniel E. Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield