Lessons Americans can take from "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"

"History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, then as a farce."

On the morning of Election Day 2024, I finally received the hold I’d placed months before on the 57-hour unabridged audiobook version of William Shirer’s 1960 historical classic, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich¹. It did not feel like a great omen then; it felt much worse 24 hours later.

There’s an old internet cliche known as Godwin’s Law, which sta…