When the Clock Broke

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER PICK A rollicking, revelatory look at the tumult of the early 1990s and the rise of a new, more berserk America that birthed the Donald Trump Era 'When the Clock Broke is leagues more insightful on the subject of Trump's ascent than most writing that purports to address the issue directly' WASHINGTON POST 'A fascinating, provocative challenge to our age - passionate, unexpected, illuminating' RORY STEWART With the Soviet Union extinct, Saddam Hussein defeated and US power at its zenith, the early 1990s promised a 'kinder, gentler America'. It didn't work out that way. Instead, it was a period of punishing economic hardship, rising anger and domestic strife, setting the tone for the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today. In this original and often hilarious book, John Ganz narrates the fall of the Reagan order and the rise of a new kind of paranoid politics: how a group of con men and conspiracists declared a culture war on liberal elites, rejected 'globalism' and called for a 'populist based presidency'. A rollicking exposé of the end of the post-World War II order, this book shows the advent of a new, more berserk America. 'Terrific . . . When the Clock Broke is one of those rarest of books: unflaggingly entertaining while never losing sight of its moral core' NEW YORK TIMES 'Fascinating' LONDON REVEIW OF BOOKS One of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2024 One of the New York Times' 100 Notable Books of 2024 Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award 2024

A TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR - THE WASHINGTON POST - THE NEW REPUBLIC - AIR MAIL - SLATE PUBLISHERS WEEKLY - A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR OBAMA'S SUMMER READING - THE BOSTON GLOBE - MOTHER JONES - C HICAGO TRIBUNE - LITERARY HUB "[A] wry and engaging account . . . When the Clock Broke is leagues more insightful on the subject of Trump's ascent than most writing that purports to address the issue directly." --Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post A revelatory look back at the convulsions at the end of the Reagan era--and their dark legacy today. A high official in the Department of Defense is accused of running a drug trafficking operation, and the rumors reverberate. Mayoral candidate Rudy Giuliani incites a riot among police officers in Lower Manhattan. The ex-Klansman and neo-Nazi David Duke runs for governor of Louisiana and wins the white vote. "If the ideals that I stand for are addressed, then I will only be a footnote in history," he prophesies. "But if the deterioration of the white middle class continues, then I will be president." The early 1990s promised Americans confidence and primacy. It didn't turn out that way. As the economy contracted and anxieties about crime, immigration, and foreign competition rose, the national mood darkened. An influential group of conservative thinkers rejected "globalism" and called for a "populist-based presidency" that would save the American way of life. They sought to "break the clock" and "repeal the twentieth century." In When the Clock Broke , John Ganz dissects a country in extremis. As the Cold War consensus ended, Americans exhumed old demons and created some new ones. A culture war was declared on liberal elites, free trade was equated with the "giant sucking sound" of jobs lost to Mexico, and rowdy talk radio hosts forged bonds with audiences undergoing an "epidemic of loneliness." Increasingly, the Republican Party was the haven of the alienated and angry. When Bill Clinton won the presidency, it seemed the center had held--temporarily. Ranging from Ruby Ridge to the Chinese restaurant in Virginia where "paleoconservatives" devised a new politics for "Middle American Radicals," Ganz offers a rollicking expos? of the end of the post-World War II order--and the advent of a new, more berserk America. "John Ganz is the most important young political writer of his generation--just the one our dark moment needs." --Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland and Reaganland

A TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR - THE WASHINGTON POST - THE NEW REPUBLIC - AIR MAIL - SLATE PUBLISHERS WEEKLY - A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR OBAMA'S SUMMER READING - THE BOSTON GLOBE - MOTHER JONES - C HICAGO TRIBUNE - LITERARY HUB "[A] wry and engaging account . . . When the Clock Broke is leagues more insightful on the subject of Trump's ascent than most writing that purports to address the issue directly." --Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post A revelatory look back at the convulsions at the end of the Reagan era--and their dark legacy today. A high official in the Department of Defense is accused of running a drug trafficking operation, and the rumors reverberate. Mayoral candidate Rudy Giuliani incites a riot among police officers in Lower Manhattan. The ex-Klansman and neo-Nazi David Duke runs for governor of Louisiana and wins the white vote. "If the ideals that I stand for are addressed, then I will only be a footnote in history," he prophesies. "But if the deterioration of the white middle class continues, then I will be president." The early 1990s promised Americans confidence and primacy. It didn't turn out that way. As the economy contracted and anxieties about crime, immigration, and foreign competition rose, the national mood darkened. An influential group of conservative thinkers rejected "globalism" and called for a "populist-based presidency" that would save the American way of life. They sought to "break the clock" and "repeal the twentieth century." In When the Clock Broke , John Ganz dissects a country in extremis. As the Cold War consensus ended, Americans exhumed old demons and created some new ones. A culture war was declared on liberal elites, free trade was equated with the "giant sucking sound" of jobs lost to Mexico, and rowdy talk radio hosts forged bonds with audiences undergoing an "epidemic of loneliness." Increasingly, the Republican Party was the haven of the alienated and angry. When Bill Clinton won the presidency, it seemed the center had held--temporarily. Ranging from Ruby Ridge to the Chinese restaurant in Virginia where "paleoconservatives" devised a new politics for "Middle American Radicals," Ganz offers a rollicking expos? of the end of the post-World War II order--and the advent of a new, more berserk America. "John Ganz is the most important young political writer of his generation--just the one our dark moment needs." --Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland and Reaganland

"John Ganz is the most important young political writer of his generation--just the one our dark moment needs." --Rick Perlstein "Lively and kaleidoscopic." --Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker "John Ganz belongs to a species of public intellectual that is almost extinct . . . When the Clock Broke is the first of what I hope will be a shelf of books that help us uncover the true history of our times." --Jeet Heer A lively, revelatory look back at the convulsions at the end of the Reagan era--and their dark legacy today. With the Soviet Union extinct, Saddam Hussein defeated, and U.S. power at its zenith, the early 1990s promised a "kinder, gentler America." Instead, it was a period of rising anger and domestic turmoil, anticipating the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today. In When the Clock Broke , the acclaimed political writer John Ganz tells the story of America's late-century discontents. Ranging from upheavals in Crown Heights and Los Angeles to the advent of David Duke and the heartland survivalists, the broadcasts of Rush Limbaugh, and the bitter disputes between neoconservatives and the "paleo-con" right, Ganz immerses us in a time when what Philip Roth called the "indigenous American berserk" took new and ever-wilder forms. In the 1992 campaign, Pat Buchanan's and Ross Perot's insurgent populist bids upended the political establishment, all while Americans struggled through recession, alarm about racial and social change, the specter of a new power in Asia, and the end of Cold War-era political norms. Conspiracy theories surged, and intellectuals and activists strove to understand the "Middle American Radicals" whose alienation fueled new causes. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton appeared to forge a new, vital center, though it would not hold for long. In a rollicking, eye-opening book, Ganz narrates the fall of the Reagan order and the rise of a new and more turbulent America.

"John Ganz is the most important young political writer of his generation--just the one our dark moment needs." --Rick Perlstein "Lively and kaleidoscopic." --Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker "John Ganz belongs to a species of public intellectual that is almost extinct . . . When the Clock Broke is the first of what I hope will be a shelf of books that help us uncover the true history of our times." --Jeet Heer A lively, revelatory look back at the convulsions at the end of the Reagan era--and their dark legacy today. With the Soviet Union extinct, Saddam Hussein defeated, and U.S. power at its zenith, the early 1990s promised a "kinder, gentler America." Instead, it was a period of rising anger and domestic turmoil, anticipating the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today. In When the Clock Broke , the acclaimed political writer John Ganz tells the story of America's late-century discontents. Ranging from upheavals in Crown Heights and Los Angeles to the advent of David Duke and the heartland survivalists, the broadcasts of Rush Limbaugh, and the bitter disputes between neoconservatives and the "paleo-con" right, Ganz immerses us in a time when what Philip Roth called the "indigenous American berserk" took new and ever-wilder forms. In the 1992 campaign, Pat Buchanan's and Ross Perot's insurgent populist bids upended the political establishment, all while Americans struggled through recession, alarm about racial and social change, the specter of a new power in Asia, and the end of Cold War-era political norms. Conspiracy theories surged, and intellectuals and activists strove to understand the "Middle American Radicals" whose alienation fueled new causes. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton appeared to forge a new, vital center, though it would not hold for long. In a rollicking, eye-opening book, Ganz narrates the fall of the Reagan order and the rise of a new and more turbulent America.