In 1951 William Faulker wrote, “The past is never dead.” Nothing is more prophetic than Mulloy’s excellent Enemies of the State, an account of the radical Right in the US. Mulloy takes readers on a journey through the twisted world of right-wing politics. Although many Americans are justifiably worried about the ascendancy of Donald Trump, his rise, according to Mulloy, can be traced to the growth of extremist movements emerging after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. With the extension of the federal government came the birth of the Liberty Lobby and an assortment of organizations opposed to economic and social change. In the 1950s, this opposition was especially evident when it came to challenging the racial status quo, particularly following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. Mulloy links those fears, especially the fear of communism demonstrated by the John Birch Society, to the South’s massive resistance to civil rights, a resistance that continues today. Mulloy’s candid account of right-wing radicalism demonstrates that Trumpism is not a new phenomenon, but is in fact directly linked to earlier, less-successful rightist movements. Mulloy’s study is a must for anyone seeking to understand the fracturing of the American political order today. Summing Up: Essential. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, researchers, faculty, professionals, general readers.

Choice Reviews

No American history collection should be without this powerful survey of how America got to this point in time today.

Midwest Book Review

[This book's] highly readable and concise presentation will appeal for use in history and political science classrooms, as well as to general readers wondering how Trumpism has developed into a political ideology.

Library Journal

This invaluable book ties together the various strands of extremism, including anti-statism, anti-communism, Fundamentalist Christianity, resistance to desegregation, and the at-times nihilistic obstruction of progress that radicals on the right have perpetuated in various forms since the 1930s…. [W]ritten for a general audience, this account will be of great interest to readers with questions about American politics.

Booklist

Mulloy...writes in a clear and accessible style and provides dispassionate scholarly analysis that convincingly supports his thesis. Readers seeking information about the far right will find this book enlightening.

Publishers Weekly

In this sweeping survey of the radical right since the 1930s, D.J. Mulloy helps us understand the rise of the Tea Party and the 2016 presidential victory of Donald Trump. Enemies of the State is a provocative and accessible introduction to the movements and the people who helped create our current political moment.

Kathryn S. Olmsted, University of California, Davis