D. J. Mulloy - Böcker

As far as members of the hugely controversial John Birch Society were concerned, the Cold War revealed in stark clarity the loyalties and disloyalties of numerous important Americans, including Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Earl Warren. Founded in 1958 as a force for conservative political advocacy, the Society espoused the dangers of enemies foreign and domestic, including the Soviet Union, organisers of the US civil rights movement and government officials who were deemed ""soft"" on communism in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Sound familiar? In The World of the John Birch Society, author D. J. Mulloy reveals the tactics of the Society in a way they've never been understood before, allowing the reader to make the connections to contemporary American politics, up to and including the Tea Party. These tactics included organised dissemination of broad-based accusations and innuendo, political brinksmanship within the Republican Party and frequent doomsday predictions regarding world events. At the heart of the organisation was Robert Welch, a charismatic writer and organiser who is revealed to have been the lifeblood of the Society's efforts.The Society has seen its influence recede from the high-water mark of 1970s, but the organisation still exists today. Throughout The World of the John Birch Society, the reader sees the very tenets and practises in play that make the contemporary Tea Party so effective on a local level. Indeed, without the John Birch Society paving the way, the Tea Party may have encountered a dramatically different political terrain on its path to power.

Years of Rage is a revealing—and frightening—history of the many and varied white supremacist groups that have operated in the United States from the rebirth of the Klan in 1915 through to the rise of the alt-right and the presidency of Donald J. Trump. Historian D. J. Mulloy explores the motivations and underlying beliefs of these racists, their fears of displacement, their propaganda, their propensity to commit acts of violence and terrorism, and their deep and unwavering sense of rage. He also considers the important role played by women within the movement, as well as white supremacy’s deep roots in American society. Indeed, Mulloy demonstrates that rather than being consigned to the margins of American history, at times—the 1920s; the 1950s; the presidency of Trump—white supremacy has been remarkably close to the center. Wide-ranging yet accessible, Years of Rage examines a host of fascinating topics and events including the skillful promotion of the Klan by professional salesmen during the 1920s, the vicious campaign of violence directed against the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s, the development of a Nazi-Klan alliance during the 1970s, the centrality of esoteric religious beliefs like Identity Christianity to many white supremacists, the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and the critical role played by the Internet, social media, and Donald Trump to the startling resurgence of far right in our own time.

The rise of the alt-right alongside Donald Trump’s candidacy may be seem unprecedented events in the history of the United States, but D. J. Mulloy shows us that the radical right has been a long and active part of American politics during the twentieth century. From the German-American Bund to the modern militia movement, D. J. Mulloy provides a guide for anyone interested in examining the roots of the radical right in the U.S.—in all its many varied forms—going back to the days of the Great Depression, the New Deal and the extraordinary political achievements of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Enemies of the State offers an informative and highly readable introduction to some of the key developments and events of recent American history including: the fear of the Communist subversion of American society in the aftermath of the Second World War; the rise of the civil rights movement and the “white backlash” this elicited; the apparent decline of liberalism and the ascendancy of conservatism during the economic malaise of the 1970s; Ronald Reagan’s triumphant presidential victory in 1980; and the Great Recession of 2007-08 and subsequent election of President Obama.