The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot (Paperback)

by Naomi Wolf (Author)
Key Phrases: defense authorization bill, fascist shift, secret prison system, United States, White House, Espionage Act (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Library Journal 9.15.07 (starred review)

This latest offering from best-selling author Wolf, The Beauty Myth, is a harbinger of an age that may finally see the patriarchal realm of political discourse usurped. Here is Wolf’s compellingly and cogently argued political argument for civil rights, not women’s rights. She contributes this call to action to a canon that from Plato and Aristotle to Hobbes and Locke and forward, with a few exceptions (e.g., Hannah Arendt), has been largely populated by men. Wolf’s work is actually closer to the agitated, passionate polemics of Emma Goldman than the ponderous, philosophical musings of Arendt. Readers will appreciate her energy and urgency as she warns we are living through a dangerous "fascist shift” brought about by the Bush administration. Her chapters outline the “Ten Steps to Fascism” citing historical corollaries (as well as the pigs in Orwell’s Animal Farm), with headings like “Invoke an External and Internal Threat,” “Establish Secret Prisons,” and “Target Key Individuals.” In other words, fascism can exist without dictatorship. Her book’s publication through a small press in Vermont that is committed to “the politics and practice of sustainable living” rather than through a large trade house is itself a political act. Highly recommended for all collections.
—Theresa Kintz, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA

Review
"One of the most important books that's been written, certainly in the last decade or two, and perhaps in my lifetime."
-- Thom Hartmann, best-selling author and host of The Thom Hartmann Radio Program

“Naomi Wolf ’s End of America is a vivid, urgent, mandatory wake-up call that addresses momentous issues of tyranny, democracy, and survival.”
—Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of the three-volume Eleanor Roosevelt

"Naomi Wolf sounds the alarm for all American patriots. We must come together as a nation and recommit ourselves to the fundamental American idea that no president, whether Democrat or Republican, will ever be given unchecked power."
—Wes Boyd, co-founder, MoveOn.org

“The framers of our Constitution fully understood that it can happen here. Patriots like Madison, Paine, and Franklin would certainly applaud Naomi Wolf and recognize her as a sister in their struggle.”
—Mark Crispin Miller, author of Fooled Again

“You will be shocked and disturbed by this book. Most Americans reject outright any comparison of post 9/11 America with the fascism and totalitarianism of Nazi Germany or Pinochet’s Chile. Sadly, the parallels and similarities, what Wolf calls the ‘echoes’ between those societies and America today, are all too compelling.”
—Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing; 1st edition (September 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933392797
• ISBN-13: 978-1933392790
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (216 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

167 of 177 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The book is worth a read, October 26, 2007

By	Phix - See all my reviews

President Bush has carried on a century-long trend to its next step (which happens to be an horrendous one). My complaint about Naomi Wolfe is that she seems focused on President Bush, when really he is merely the latest figurehead in a generation-spanning agenda. Also, she ignores the complicity (and therefore the guilt) of Congress. Additionally, she claims that we are a democracy, and we are not: this is a constitutional republic. This is not merely semantics - a democracy does not have a rule book, just runs by the whims of the majority (in an ideal setting). A Constitutional Republic has a rule book, called the Constitution, and being a republic keeps the original rules somewhat intact unless a true majority is willing to work to change the rules (make amendments). On the other hand, she describes the realities of what happens to the relationship between the government and its people as a country or nation goes downhill. Those steps described were not made up by Ms. Wolfe. Many of those steps have been implemented in our country today. She is also inspiring to her listeners for she at least tells them that they can reverse this trend back toward freedom, which she is absolutely right when she says we are losing it faster than you can say "statism".

243 of 272 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, troubling message, September 17, 2007

By	D. T. - See all my reviews

I was thoroughly frightened by the content of this book, and truly hope others are as well. The path we are headed down in this country should be concerning to both Democrats and Republicans. Loss of our liberties will, after all, affect all of us. I would urge anyone who reads this to keep an open mind, and not immediately discard the message she is conveying simply because it focuses on troubling things being done by the current administration. These things would be troubling no matter which party the president belonged to. Being able to take a step back from blind party allegiance to actually see when there is a problem is a key factor in maintaining a healthy democracy. No leader deserves our blind allegiance, regardless of their political party affiliation. Our elected leaders should be accountable to us, not the other way around.

92 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Time to Panic Yet?, October 12, 2007

By	Gary Schroeder "GS23" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not quite yet, but perhaps we're close. Naomi Wolf has written a book that fills a significant need at this point in our history. She sounds the call to warn American citizens...warn us that we may be slowly metamorphosing into that which we despise most: a country that bullies its citizens and is unaccountable to any recognized authority.

While some will see this book as alarmist --and reasonable people could debate this-- one of her points is undoubtedly true. That is, the decent into a repressive regime is slow and quiet. It usually does not come as an overnight announcement of martial law or suspension of elections. Instead, it happens over the course of years, so quietly that most may never notice until it's a fait accompli. Only then will people ask "how did this happen?".

Wolf compares and contrasts recent events in American history with those in Communist Russia, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This will undoubtedly put some readers off as any one of these references is a hot button that, once pushed, inflames blinding emotion. However, if you can get past that, the parallels are disquieting...even when read with a skeptical eye.

I hope that when I re-read this review in two years that I will be able to say that my concerns about torture, secret prisons, warrantless eavesdropping, a cowed media, and all the rest have faded away. If not, I'll have to acknowledge the prescience of Wolf's thesis.