Novels about a 1930s fascist take over

[Scott]

I really enjoyed It can't happen here. I couldn't help but think of Philip Roth's The Plot Against America and found a review of that book which featured a discussion of other books about a fascist take over of America. Any thoughts on these books and others like it?

[Sheila]

I've seen It Can't Happen Here compared to The Handmaid's Tale in a discussion thread for that book. It's not set in the 30s, and has a slight feminist bent to it, but having read both books, I can understand the comparison.

[Robert]

There are lots of books whose plots revolve around the notion of 'alternative history' like Roth's The Plot Against America. Robert Harris' Fatherland springs to mind right away and more recently C J Sansom's Dominion. The latter's focus is on Britain and because the author spends the first third or so explaining how things are different it's a little slow to get going as a thriller.
Still, you might enjoy it for that reason if your interest is in how things would have spun out differently politically.

[Scott]

A big difference today is the lack of political diversity. You would be hard pressed to find a toiling communist mechanic, as was featured in It Can't Happen Here. Lewis was "dead on" about the antipathy between communist and fascist supporters. Different economic times and migration patterns existed then.

I just finished the book tonight and read the last 250 pages. I felt the demise of Buzz Windrup and his successor was a bit too fast and not developed enough, but at that point, things were truly dismal in teh country portrayed in the book.