Tom Nichols is Professor Emeritus of National Security Affairs, US Naval War College, and a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of The Death of Expertise (Oxford 2017), No Use: Nuclear Weapons and US National Security (2013), and Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War (2008). He is also an instructor at the Harvard Extension School and an adjunct professor at the US Air Force School of Strategic Force Studies. He is a former aide in the US Senate and has been a Fellow of the International Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

While democracy does battle with other political ideologies—fascism, communism, socialism—its most difficult battle is always with itself, the inherent contradiction that is both its greatest strength and most glaring vulnerability. The challenges we face in the 21st century are of a different magnitude, but rooted in this central truth: Democracy takes work. Tom Nichols' outstanding book is where we begin.

• Preface Introduction: Our Own Worst Enemy 1. A Hunger for Apocalypse: The Perils of Peace and Plenty 2. The Nicest People You'll Ever Dislike: When Good Neighbors Are Bad Citizens 3. "Is There No Virtue among Us?" Democracy in an Age of Rage and Resentment 4. System Failure? Human Suffering and the Case against Liberal Democracy 5. Hello, I Hate You: How Hyper-Connection Is Destroying Democracy Conclusion: Is There a Road Back? Notes Index

Tom Nichols is Professor Emeritus of National Security Affairs, US Naval War College, and a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of The Death of Expertise (Oxford 2017), No Use: Nuclear Weapons and US National Security (2013), and Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War (2008). He is also an instructor at the Harvard Extension School and an adjunct professor at the US Air Force School of Strategic Force Studies. He is a former aide in the US Senate and has been a Fellow of the International Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

While democracy does battle with other political ideologies—fascism, communism, socialism—its most difficult battle is always with itself, the inherent contradiction that is both its greatest strength and most glaring vulnerability. The challenges we face in the 21st century are of a different magnitude, but rooted in this central truth: Democracy takes work. Tom Nichols' outstanding book is where we begin.

• Preface Introduction: Our Own Worst Enemy 1. A Hunger for Apocalypse: The Perils of Peace and Plenty 2. The Nicest People You'll Ever Dislike: When Good Neighbors Are Bad Citizens 3. "Is There No Virtue among Us?" Democracy in an Age of Rage and Resentment 4. System Failure? Human Suffering and the Case against Liberal Democracy 5. Hello, I Hate You: How Hyper-Connection Is Destroying Democracy Conclusion: Is There a Road Back? Notes Index