Other editions of book It Can't Happen Here

Dell #S19, 1961. Stated first Dell printing. Very Good condition. There is a faint, vertical crease along the length of the front wrapper and front fly. Name inked at the upper right corner of the front fly. Mild dust soiling to the spine and rear wrapper. Faint crease along the front spine seam. Mild toning to the pages. Cover art by Howard Terpning.

It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis, and a 1936 play adapted from the novel by Lewis and John C. Moffitt. Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a Democrat and United States Senator who is elected to the presidency after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a plutocratic/totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of Adolf Hitler and the SS. The novel's plot centers on journalist Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against tyranny.

First published in 1935, when Americans were still largely oblivious to the rise of Hitler in Europe, this prescient novel tells a cautionary tale of the fragility of democracy and offers an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor, is dismayed to find how many people he knows support presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip. The suspiciously fascist Windrip is offering to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press. But after Windrip wins the election, dissent soon becomes dangerous for Jessup. Windrip forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States into a totalitarian state.