In an explosive follow-up to The Power Worshippers, Katherine Stewart traces the disparate yet united “engine of unreason” roiling American culture and politics.

Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? In this deeply reported book, Katherine Stewart takes us to conferences of conspiracy-mongers, back-room strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down. She introduces us to reactionary Catholic activists, atheist billionaires, pseudo-Platonist intellectuals, self-appointed apostles of Jesus, disciples of Ayn Rand, women-hating opponents of “the gynocracy,” pro-natalists preoccupied with the dearth of white babies, Covid truthers, militia members masquerading as "concerned moms," and battalions of spirit warriors who appear to be inventing a new religion even as they set about attacking democracy and its foundations.

Along the way, she provides a compelling analysis of the authoritarian reaction in the United States. She demonstrates that the movement relies on three very different groups-the funders, the thinkers, and the foot-soldiers-each with different beliefs and often conflicting aims. Stewart's reporting and comprehensive political analysis helps reframe the conversation about the moral collapse of conservatism in America and points the way forward toward a democratic future.