The runaway #1 New York Times bestseller

'Timely and fascinating... There are many astonishing vignettes... an important book' Max Hastings, Sunday Times

'A ripping read. . . . The parallels to the present day are strong, even startling' New York Times

As Hitler's ascendancy began to make a Second World War inevitable, a clandestine network flooded the United States with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of its war effort and persuading Americans that their natural alliance was with the Nazis.

It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the US government and installing authoritarian rule. Some of the country's most influential elected officials, including senators and members of Congress, worked to disseminate Nazi talking points, while fascist paramilitaries stockpiled bombs and weapons in preparation for violent insurrection.

Prequel unearths the forgotten story of these insurrectionists, as well as the heroic efforts of the journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose their plot and bring them to justice. Deeply researched, the story of how the crisis was averted is also a deeply relevant tale for our own disquieting times.

‘A rallying cry for a deep rethink of how we build, buy and manage homes.’ ARCHITECTS’ JOURNAL
‘A calm analysis of the concept of property ownership, its promises, successes and betrayals.’ THE SPECTATOR
‘Moore situates property where it belongs – in the centre of virtually every aspect of our lives.’ SUNDAY TIMES

Wherever you are on property’s wheel of chance, you are likely to be powerfully affected by it. Perhaps you have changed your life in search of a place you can afford. Or maybe you are a homeowner who worries about a crash in prices. Or perhaps you have found you are shut out of the magic kingdom of ownership and forced into paying high rents to indifferent landlords. This is a powerful examination of how property came to shape the modern world – and why it now threatens the freedom and stability it was meant to sustain.

A well-researched, concise guide to protest art, exploring what happens when artists join forces with radical political movements to foster change. The works and movements discussed in this book emerged at times of great upheaval including war, colonialism, independence, and changes of government. They reveal how art and politics have been intertwined throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Jessica Lack adopts an inclusive and international approach, presenting examples from nations and societies around the globe, including Sylvia Pankhurst’s paintings depicting the harsh realities faced by women manual workers in early 1900s Britain; the revolutionary aesthetic created by Emory Douglas for the Black Panthers in the 1960s, which documented and galvanized the campaign for the rights of Black Americans; Nandalal Bose’s portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, which became the iconic symbol of the Indian nonviolence movement in the 1930s; and the Chilean direct action work that contributed to the collapse of General Pinochet’s government.

Each of the nine chapters addresses different ways in which art has been used to effect political transformation, taking in humor and satire; performance and propaganda; art’s relationships to institutions, the media, conflict, and the state; and its uses as a weapon, a galvanizing force, and a way of refusing the status quo. Artistic acts, collectives, and movements are examined in their context, revealing how they have influenced other artists and changed the wider political and artistic world.