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NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER A scalding history of twentyfive years of Republican attempts to hold on to political power by any means necessary by a hugely popular Washington Post political columnist

A thorough and scathing account of how the Republican Party fell prey to TrumpismThe New York Times Book Review

In 1994 more than 300 Republicans under the command of obstructionist and rabblerouser Congressman Newt Gingrich stood outside the US Capitol to sign the Contract with America and put bipartisanship on notice Twentyfive years later on January 6 2021 a bloodthirsty mob incited by President Trumpinvaded the Capitol

Dana Milbank sees a clear line from the Contract with America to the coup attempt In the quarter century in between Americans have witnessed the crackup of the party of Lincoln and Reagan to its current iteration as a haven for white supremacists political violence conspiracy theories and authoritarianism

Following the questionable careers of party heavyweights Newt Gingrich Karl Rove Mitch McConnell and Rudy Giuliani and those of many lesser known lowlights Milbank recounts the shocking lengths the Republican Party has gone to to maintain its grip on the American people