It's easy to see why this 1930s novel was reprinted in 2017, but I didn't find this one as chilling as I was expecting. And I thought it would spend more time on build-up of Buzz Windrip becoming a president than it did—all that happened very quickly very early on. ( )

An interesting alternate history dystopia in which the US turns into a fascist dictatorship in response to the Depression. ( )

Strange character names, an older style of prose writing doesn’t stop Lewis’ view of the constant flux in world politics to be much different than today. In other words, it CAN happen here ( )

This extraordinary novel from 1935 predicts with uncanny accuracy the American political situation of 2016, and has authentic and frightening warnings. Sinclair Lewis satirizes with biting humor the potential for America to fall to populist demagogues with nothing to say but what people want to hear, and of the terrible consequences of the people's naïvete. A must read. ( )

A timely book though it was written in 1935. It deals with a presidential election where the President declares martial law and takes everyone's liberties and rights away. He changes the country from states to 8 districts and appoints people loyal to him. Those who object to his authoritarian ways are jailed, put in concentration camps, or killed. Many try to flee to Canada. He, of course, ends up like all dictators, deposed, with another man like him taking over.

I had a bit of a problem getting into this. Once I did, I found it interesting to see how some accepted with happened especially if they ended up in the "ruling" class. Watching others protest showed the power of the people when they stand together, though it was an underground movement. IAs news gets around about what is happening in other parts of the country, I liked how Doremus and his band of rebels get the information out by any means possible. This book shows what could happen if a fascist gets into office and what is lost and how much is lost because he says what the poor want to hear. It also shows what happens when the press is suppressed. When news gets out, it's disseminated to the masses. I found it fascinating how they did it.

This is worth reading and learning from it. ( )