It Can't Happen Here

Sinclair Lewis' satirical novel, published in 1935 during the Great Depression and written before World War II, looks at a frightening future in which an opportunistic leader, who was elected to save his country from welfare cheats, sex crimes and especially the liberal press, turns into dictator. "A message to thinking Americans" read the headline of Springfield Republican. The book is still as fresh as today's news due to its sharp political satire and chilling realism about how fascism could achieve power in America. Michael Meyer offers an introduction and Gary Scharnhorst writes about the novel  in an afterward.