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After the Fall

Being American in the World We've Made

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After the Fall

By: Ben Rhodes
Narrated by: Ben Rhodes
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Bloomsbury presents After the Fall written and read by Ben Rhodes.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

'A dystopian odyssey through the dark authoritarian landscape of the modern world’
The Times

To be born American in the late twentieth century was to take the fact of a particular kind of American exceptionalism as granted – a state of nature arrived at after all else had failed. In the span of just thirty years, this assumption would come crashing down.

After the fall, we must determine what it means to be American again.

In 2017, as Ben Rhodes was helping Barack Obama begin his next chapter, the legacy they worked to build for eight years was being taken apart. To understand what was happening in America, Rhodes decided to look outwards.

Over the next three years, he travelled to dozens of countries, meeting with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that was tearing America apart. Along the way, a Russian opposition leader he spends time with is poisoned, the Hong Kong protesters he comes to know see their movement snuffed out, and America itself reaches the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a second chance.

After the Fall is a hugely ambitious and essential work of discovery. Throughout, Rhodes comes to realize how much America’s fingerprints are on a world it helped to shape: through the excesses of the post-Cold War embrace of unbridled capitalism, post-9/11 nationalism and militarism, mania for technology and social media, and the racism that shaped the backlash to the Obama presidency. At the same time, he learns from a diverse set of characters – from Obama to rebels to a rising generation of leaders – how looking squarely at where America has gone wrong only makes it more essential to fight for what America is supposed to be – for itself, and for the entire world.©2021 Ben Rhodes (P)2021 Penguin Random House LLC Americas Politics & Government United States Socialism Middle East Social justice Russia Capitalism Authoritarianism Iran
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Critic Reviews

A dystopian odyssey through the dark authoritarian landscape of the modern world
After the Fall takes the form of a quest . . . Rhodes’s travels, and his contemplation of the scene at home, lead him to an important conclusion: The United States, having exported to the world unleashed capitalism, ungoverned social media and a militarized foreign policy, has now seen its pathologies weaponized by its enemies and turned back upon itself
Vital reading for Americans and people anywhere who seek to understand what is happening 'after the fall' of the global system created by the United States and shaped increasingly by China under Xi Jinping
The story of an aftermath . . . Elegantly expressed
All stars
Most relevant
The whole book was illuminating. Insider stories, personal encounters examining how the world (I'm not an American and do not live there) is leaning authoritarian. This is a topic that we must consider. But also one with which we misty gird our loins for the struggles ahead.
the final part of the book was my favourite, as it shone a light forward.
A good mind, a well written examination, and read by Ben himself, so I felt as though I was listening around a dinner table.
Recommend!!

Serious but ultimately uplifting

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such an essential peek into the need for national as well as individual introspection . deepest political thinking about USA that I have experienced in far too long. Rhodes is a thinker not a pundit. and his narration is superb

so glad to have heard this analysis

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I’m an Aussie who first came across Ben Rhodes a year or two ago via Crooked Media’s Pod Save the World podcast. I’ve always enjoyed Ben’s analysis of world events and what it means from the perspective of left leaning democratic minded person who understands government and the intricacies of foreign policy.

After the Fall was a real eye opener to the increasing use of nationalism and ‘us vs them’ politics around the world. He shows how several countries are using the tried and true authoritarian playbook to gain control and power and through his interviews with many democratic activists around the world, instilled in me some hope that democracy is still a thing worth fighting for wherever we are in the world.

Powerful

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A very interesting, frank insight into the role the US has played in recent decades in the rise of authoritarianism around the world. His direct involvement in unwittingly contributing to and helping to combat these forces is delivered with a candour that is both refreshing and chilling.

A unique perspective

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