It Can Happen Here is an academic examination of extremist ideology and the increasing possibility of genocide in the USA by Dr. Alexander Laban Hinton. Released 8th June 2021 by NYU Press, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
This is an erudite and well written monograph on the open rise of white extremism in the USA and a reasoned, logical examination of the ways in which it could give rise to genocide and, most importantly, concrete methods to avoid this outcome. The author is an academic and internationally recognized expert in this field and this is what I would call a layman accessible academic treatise of the ideas in all their incarnations as they intersect culture and history. As an academic work, it is *full* of annotations, notes, and minutiae (in a good way). I stopped often to read the background of some of his points in context (many of them link to online resources which are accessible by anyone).
The author knows what he's talking about. He writes perceptively and quite chillingly of what's happened, what's currently happening, and what the possible outcomes are. In short, it *can* happen in the USA and pretending that it's completely impossible and unthinkable is a desperately dangerous ignorance which we can't afford.
Five stars. I learned quite a lot from this book. Much of it made me sad and angry. It was in no way an "easy" read. I would recommend it for library acquisition and also for readers of history and culture.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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