When America Stopped Being Great by Nick Bryant
$7.99
When America Stopped Being Great
- A History of the Present
- By: Nick Bryant
- Narrated by: Ben Chapple
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Categories: History, Americas
Publisher's Summary
The presidency of Donald Trump is commonly seen as an historical accident. In When America Stopped Being Great, Nick Bryant argues that by 2016 it had become almost historically inescapable. In this highly personal account, drawing on decades of covering Washington for the BBC, Bryant shows how the billionaire capitalised on the mistakes of his five predecessors, Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and how also he became a beneficiary of a broken politics, an iniquitous economy, an ailing media, a facile culture, disruptive new technology and the creation of a modern-day presidency that elevated showmanship over statesmanship.
Not only are we starting to see the emergence of a post-American world, Bryant fears we are seeing the emergence of a post-American America.
The history of Trump's rise is also a history of America's fall - not only are we witnessing America's post-millennial decline, but also the country's disintegration.
©2020 Nick Bryant (P)2020 Penguin Random House Australia









Anonymous User
Excellent and insightful
The final chapters are a brilliant summary of the dysfunction that is modern America under Trump and what is now the so-called “Republican Party”. However the real strength of this book is the non-partisan analysis of the recent modern history, politics and culture that led to the US becoming the Disunited States. As another author said (I can’t remember who) Trump is not only the problem, but a symptom of the problem with modern America. Great journalism and well-written work by Nick Bryant.
2 people found this helpful
Anonymous User
Hugely insightful
Hugely insightful, unsettling, fascinating, wry, frank, erudite. Looking forward to the next ‘chapter’ because, surely, the only way forward for the US can be up.
1 person found this helpful