Book excerpt: The 8th November 2016 marked a startling new era in American political life. After the creeping ascent of Right wing authoritarian parties in the UK and Europe Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election brought an alarming form of "e;alt-right"e; neo-conservativism into the American political mainstream. Many aspects of this descent into the darkness of fascism was predicted by Bertram Gross in Friendly Fascism, a provocative and original critique of a subtle yet growing fascism in American political life. Gross shows that the chronic problems faced by the U.S. in the late twentieth century required increasing collusion between big business and big government to manage society in the interests of the privileged and powerful. The resulting "e;friendly fascism"e;, Gross suggests, lacks the dictatorships, public spectacles and overt brutality of 20th century fascism, but has at its root the same denial of individual freedoms and democratic rights. No one who cares about the future of democracy can afford to ignore the frightening realities of Friendly Fascism.