It Can't Happen Here

By Sinclair Lewis

A president's rise to dictatorship threatens democracy's fragile hold.

3.8/5 Goodreads · 26,123 ratings

400 pages

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Bookroo's summary

In a chillingly prescient tale, a charismatic president rises to power, promising to save America from chaos. As democracy teeters, citizens must confront the terrifying reality of authoritarian rule. Can they resist the seductive pull of fascism, or will they succumb to its grip? This gripping narrative explores the thin line between freedom and tyranny, leaving readers questioning the resilience of democratic ideals.

From the publisher

“The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump’s authoritarian appeal.”–Salon It Can’t Happen Here is the only one of Sinclair Lewis’s later novels to match the power of Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith. A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler’s aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press. Called “a message to thinking Americans” by the Springfield Republican when it was published in 1935, It Can’t Happen Here is a shockingly prescient novel that remains as fresh and contemporary as today’s news.

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