The Forever War

America’s Unending Conflict with Itself

By: Nick Bryant

Narrated by: Nick Bryant

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents The Forever War written and read by Nick Bryant.

‘This is a must read book for all those who love America and want it to be healed.’ — Justin Webb, presenter of the BBC’s Today programme and Americast

‘Unflinching and insightful.’ — Lyse Doucet, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent

‘A perceptive look at America’s unresolved history.’ — Kirkus Reviews

‘Extraordinary...it’s enlarged my understanding of America.’ — Nihal Arthanayake, BBC Radio 5 Live

From the author of When America Stopped Being Great, an insightful and urgent reassessment of America’s past, present and future – as a country which is forever at war with itself.

The Forever War tells the story of how America’s extreme polarization is 250 years in the making, and argues that the roots of its modern-day malaise are to be found in its troubled and unresolved past.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the American experiment is failing. Division, mistrust and misinformation are now the country’s defining characteristics. The storming of the Capitol, the prosecution of Donald Trump and battles over gun rights and abortion raise the spectre of further political violence.

Nick Bryant explains how the hate, divisiveness and paranoia we see today are in fact a core part of America’s story. Combining brilliant storytelling, historical research and first-hand reportage, Bryant argues that insurrections, massacres and civil disturbances should sadly not be seen as abnormalities; they are a part of the fabric of the history of America.

©2024 Nick Bryant (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Out of the Political Fog

I thought this book took the reader full circle through America’s political battle with itself!! It’s a must read!!

Sadly, not as advertised. Very partisan view.

First, full disclosure: I only managed to get 1/3rd of the way through this book. After 1/3, I couldn't take any more. From the description of the book I was hoping for a non-partisan, historically-based view which would include helpful context around relevant social and political events. In addition, the reviews cite the "wit" and "humor" of the author. And given that the author is also the narrator, I had high hopes.
Sadly, I was bitterly disappointed. The author is highly partisan and this becomes clear within the first few sentences of the preface, let alone in the main text. His text and tone clearly show his complete bias towards the Democrat party and his distaste for Republicans. This immediately colors everything from that point on.
Then what follows is a stream of historical events around right-wing and racist organizations and events from the beginning of the Republic onwards. He suggests that most of these have not received the historical attention that they deserve (this may be true, but how is it relevant), and he provides his view of how these things are linked, and what event caused what subsequent event (with no explanation of evidence that his analysis is correct). After a while of this you could be forgiven for thinking that the USA has millions and millions of white supremacists and neo-nazis. But that simply isn't true. America's neo-nazis and potential "domestic terrorists" are tiny in number and, when they show themselves in public, are far more likely to arouse derision than fear.
Like most British, he completely misunderstands the unique nature of the American people's relationship with power. There has always been a healthy suspicion of politicians and government institutions. Indeed, Madison characterized this difference as "in Europe, charters of liberty are granted by power, but in America charters of power are granted by liberty". In other words, people grant politicians limited power on a limited basis. The government doesn't own us, if it worked properly it would be serving us.
Fatally for readability, there is absolutely no context to the stream of listing of random attacks by lunatics and mobs (all with supposed right-wing leanings) with each getting just a few seconds of time. It feels like being pummeled by a child saying, "this happened, then that happened, then more of this happened, and so on ad infinitum.
I can't believe that this was published at all as it has no historical or journalistic merit that I can discern. It's a complete mess and nothing at all like the description. And so far, not a trace of "wit" or "humor". Finally, one of the press reviewers (from the BBC) suggested that American's should read this book if they wanted to be "healed".
What nonsense, this is not a non-partisan, dispassionate look at the sources of our key issues that might allow some badly needed contemplation for healing, it feels more like a polemic designed to whip up anger towards the other side of the political spectrum than his own.