Beautiful Country Burn Again

Twice before in its history, the United States has been faced with a crisis so severe it was forced to reinvent itself in order to survive: first was the struggle over slavery, culminating in the Civil War, and second was the Great Depression, which led to the New Deal. In a sweeping work of reportage that lays bare the political upheaval of 2016, bestselling author Ben Fountain argues that the United States may be facing a third existential crisis, one that will again require a “burning” of the old order.

Beautiful Country Burn Again narrates a shocking year in American politics, moving from the early days of the Iowa caucus to the aftershocks following election night. Along the way, Fountain probes deeply into history, illuminating the forces and watershed moments of the past that mirror and precipitated the present. In an urgent and deeply incisive voice, Fountain paints a startling portrait of the state of our nation, offering a searing indictment of how we came to this point and where we may be headed.