The Forever War

The Forever War tells the story of how America's political polarization is 250 years in the making, and argues that the roots of its modern-day malaise are to be found in its troubled past.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the American experiment is failing. Division, mistrust and misinformation are now its defining characteristics. The storming of the Capitol, the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the increasing spotlight on Second Amendment rights raise the specter of further political violence, and even the possibility of a second civil war.
Nick Bryant argues that the hate, divisiveness and paranoia we see today are in fact a core part of America's story. Combining brilliant storytelling with historical research, Bryant argues that insurrections, assassinations and massacres - from the American Civil War through to JFK and the inner city race riots of the late '60s, up to the more recent high school shootings and the murder of George Floyd - should sadly not be seen as abnormalities; in fact they are a part of the fabric of the history of America.
The compromises originally designed to hold the union together - the Amendments made in the Reconstruction era to give rights back to former slaves, the apportionment of political power - have never truly been resolved. Today, a country that looked confidently to the future has become captive to its contentious past.

Nick Bryant is the author of When America Stopped Being Great, a book that Joe Biden keeps in the Oval Office. He was formerly one of the BBC's most senior foreign correspondents, with postings in Washington DC, New York, South Asia and Australia. After covering the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, he left the BBC in 2021, and now lives in Sydney with his wife and children. Nick studied history at Cambridge and has a doctorate in American history from Oxford.