Erasing History How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future

From Yale professor and bestselling author of How Fascism Works, a searing confrontation with the authoritarian right’s attacks to undo a century of work to advance social justice action on race, gender, sexuality, and class.

Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks.

Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recip Erdogan, and Argentina’s Javier Milei have all reached the same conclusion: if you want to roll back the clock on civil rights, equity, and inclusion, a great place to start is in our schools.

Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history. He shows that hearts and minds are won in our elementary schools, high schools, and universities—and that governments are currently ill-prepared to do the work of uprooting fascist policies being foisted upon our children through school boards, in courtrooms, and in the boardrooms of the companies trusted to train our teachers and create the materials they’ll share with their students.

Deeply informed and urgently needed, this book is a vibrant call to action for lovers of democracy worldwide.

Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is the author of six books, including How Propaganda Works. Stanley serves on the board of the Prison Policy Initiative and writes frequently about propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration, democracy, and authoritarianism for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and many other periodicals.