It Can’t Happen Here

About It Can’t Happen Here

“The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump’s authoritarian appeal.”—Salon

The only one of Sinclair Lewis’s later novels to match the power of Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith, It Can’t Happen Here is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression when America 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, rampant promiscuity, crime, and a liberal press. Now finally back in print, It Can’t Happen Here remains uniquely important, a shockingly prescient novel that’s as fresh and contemporary as today’s news.
“Written at white heat.” —Chicago Tribune
“A message to thinking Americans.” —Springfield Republican
“Not only [Lewis’s] most important book but one of the most important books ever produced in this country.” —The New Yorker


From the Trade Paperback edition.