Shadows of Tyranny

In response to right-wing extremism in the United States and around the world, Ken McGoogan offers lessons from history by looking back at the rise of authoritarianism and the collapse of European democracies in the lead-up to World War II.

*INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalist

In Shadows of Tyranny, historian Ken McGoogan warns against the future by drawing on the past, setting the emergence of alt-right fascism in the US against what happened last century in Europe. Incorporating conventional history, political analysis, biographical sketches and literary criticism-referencing visionary works by Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, H.G. Wells, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Jack London, Sinclair Lewis and Philip Roth-Shadows of Tyranny honors those who defied dictatorship and exposed totalitarianism in all its guises.

McGoogan traces the ways democracy succumbed to paranoia, polarization, scapegoating and demagoguery less than a hundred years ago in the days of Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini. Taking a biographical approach to history, he highlights the personal stories of those individuals who fought their way through the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. He looks at what the authors, journalists and poets of the day were writing, who was listening, and who wasn't.

The book tracks George Orwell, of course, but also journalists like Matthew Halton, Dorothy Thompson and Martha Gellhorn, philosophers like Walter Benjamin and Hannah Arendt, and such multi-faceted figures as Winston Churchill, Andre Malraux, Norman Bethune and William Stephenson. It follows them from the obliviousness of the 1920s through the stunned awakening of the 1930s, and on into the nightmare horror of the 1940s. McGoogan spotlights heroes of the French Resistance, such as Josephine Baker and Marie Madeleine Fourcade, before shifting the focus to reveal startling similarities between those events of the past and the trajectory of American politics under leaders like McCarthy and Trump.

Shadows of Tyranny aims to revive the words of Winston Churchill when he said, "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Twentieth-century novels such as George Orwell's 1984 and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale produced visions of future dystopia that rang with echoes of past tyrannies. Always implied was a warning that history's worst chapters are never truly closed, and that we must not fail-as many of our forebears did-to recognize that the threat of totalitarianism cannot simply be wished away.

Short-listed for INDIES Book of the Year Award 2024 (United States)

Praise for Shadows of Tyranny:

“Democracies and personality cults are fundamentally opposed, as Ken McGoogan reminds us in this gripping account of past struggles against authoritarianism. A fascinating tapestry of stories revealing how people from all walks of life came together to oppose common enemies, with admirable emphasis on how journalists and writers fought against propaganda and misinformation.” —Steven Hassan, PhD, author of The Cult of Trump

“Ken McGoogan’s book is a truly brilliant account of what happens when we let our guard down—when we ignore the signs of deep authoritarianism all around us. An unforgettable trip through our past, present, and potential future.” —Bob Rae, Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations

"McGoogan’sbiographical approach to this particular episode in twentieth-century Europeanand North American history is well-researched and easily readable. . . .[and] deliver[s] a fresh and more personal perspective." —BillRapp, The Cipher Brief

“It takes a very rare skill to make history read like a propulsive novel you can’t put down, but that is what Ken McGoogan has done for years, and he has done it again with his new book Shadows of Tyranny. . . McGoogan takes us on a lively, informative and provocative tour of historic figures and highlights how the slide into tyranny is not inevitable but the result of human agency and failure. A timely, controversial, well researched book that will either get you nodding in agreement or screaming in opposition, the perfect reflection of a polarizing time.” —Evan Solomon, Publisher, GZERO Media, New York

“McGoogan is a master history teller . . . this may be his most important work. Learn from history goes the saying, and Shadows of Tyranny is a detailed warning we should not and must not ignore.” —Peter Mansbridge, longtime anchor, CBC News

Praise for Ken McGoogan:

"McGoogan’s recounting will engross exploration history buffs." —Booklist

"A gripping tale of genuine adventures, very well told." —Kirkus Reviews 

"There’s a raw immediacy, a forceful current of whiteknuckle suspense, to McGoogan’s recreation of events.” —Vancouver Sun

"Delivers more of what readers recognize as McGoogan hallmarks: intelligence, curiosity, strong research and highly readable prose." —Globe and Mail 

Ken McGoogan is the globe-trotting Canadian author of sixteen books—mostly nonfiction narratives but also novels and memoirs. His bestselling titles include Searching for Franklin, Fatal Passage, Lady Franklin’s Revenge, and Canada’s Undeclared War: Fighting Words from the Literary Trenches. His many accolades include the Pierre Berton Award for Popular History and the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography. A fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, McGoogan sails as a resource historian with Adventure Canada. He was born in Montreal, has lived in towns and cities across the country, and now resides in Guelph, ON.

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