From a reader:

Jonah, Wonderful book, and I mean that. However, there is one aspect of it that I would like to see improved. Although you were clearly trying to reach out to those that were not already in the choir, you overlooked something I believe was very important. In your 400 plus pages of describing the history, beliefs, and actions of the Left; you never really sketched out the American Right. It is as though you assumed your readers would be largely familiar with it already. Unfortunately, I would submit that the American Right has been subject to just as much distortion as the Left. I am not proposing that you do another book tracing out the history, beliefs, and actions of the American Right, there are some good ones already. No, just a small chapter to illustrate what the Left actually opposes. You repeatedly touched upon the fact that The Right in America was different than The Right in Europe, but please give more than just a few details. You will not need to research this deeply, just toss together a wide selection of well known quotes from Burke, The Founding Fathers, and subsequent American Conservatives to illustrate the common threads in their philosophy and principles. I think a general reader would be well served to see that there are a whole host of thoughts that could come out of the mouth of just about anyone in this tradition that would be entirely unthinkable from anyone in that menagerie on the Left; and visa versa of course. Regardless of whether you think this suggestion has merit, that was still a really good book Jonah.

Me: First, thanks. Second, I hear ya. But I set out to write a book about the history of the left and its relationship to fascism. Perhaps you’re right that I could have done more to flesh out the American Right. But there are lots and lots of books on the American Right — written by conservatives and by liberals — and that’s not what I set out to do.