Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past Audiobook

A searing, vital investigation of the Republican Party’s dangerous campaign to rewrite history in real time, from the Emmy Award-winning Rachel Maddow Show producer and bestselling author of The Impostors. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

For as long as historical records have existed, authoritarian regimes have tried to rewrite history to suit their purposes, using their dictatorial powers to create myths, spread propaganda, justify decisions, erase opponents, and even dispose of crimes.

Today, as America’s Republican Party becomes increasingly radicalized, it’s not surprising to see the GOP read from a similarly despotic script. Indeed, the party is taking dangerous, aggressive steps to rewrite history—and not just from generations past. Unable to put a positive spin on Trump-era scandals and fiascos, GOP voices and their allies have grown determined to rewrite the stories of the last few years—from the 2020 election results and the horror of January 6^th to their own legislative record—treating the recent past as an enemy to be overpowered, crushed, and conquered. The consequences for our future, in turn, are dramatic.

Extraordinarily timely and undeniably important, this book tells the staggering chronicle of the Republican party’s unsettling attempts at historical revisionism. It reveals not only how dependent they have grown on the tactic, but also how dangerous the consequences are if we allow the party to continue. The stakes, Benen argues, couldn’t be higher: the future of democracy hinges on both our accurate understanding of events and the end of alternative narratives that challenge reality.

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"Sadly, the 40% or so of the people who need to read this book won't. For those of us not susceptible to the rewriting of important events that we've all seen and/or heard, the scary parts are the prologue and epilogue. This is where the orwellian technique is explained and then where it could take us. The actual chapters discuss things that I clearly remember as they happened with some details added that were not as well known along with the "alternative facts'. Normally I would have bought the book, but this is narrated by Rachel Maddow and she reads better than i do even in my mind. It was a good decision. Read or listen, your choice but get it."

— ibtd (5 out of 5 stars)