It Can’t Happen Here

Sinclair Lewis's dystopian political novel imagines fascism taking hold in a fictionalized 1930s America. Senator Berzelius Buzz Windrip, a demagogue, wins the presidency on a populist platform that promises prosperity, traditional values and $5,000 a year for every citizen, then makes himself dictator. The story centers on Doremus Jessup, a liberal newspaper editor in Fort Beulah, Vermont, who sees Windrip's policies for what they are. Lewis wrote it during the Great Depression, while fascism was rising in Europe. Published in 1935, it was adapted for the stage by Lewis and John C. Moffitt the following year.

Ryan Holiday named it among the very best books he read in 2016, suggesting it to anyone who wanted to be frightened about the four years ahead.