The Forever Wars: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself

From the author of When America Stopped Being Great, an insightful and urgent reassessment of America’s past, present and future - as a country which is forever at war with itself.

The Forever War tells the story of how America’s extreme polarisation is 250 years in the making, and argues that the roots of its modern-day malaise are to be found in its troubled and unresolved past.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the American experiment is failing. Division, mistrust and misinformation are now the country’s defining characteristics. The storming of the Capitol, the prosecution of Donald Trump and battles over gun rights and abortion raise the spectre of further political violence, and even the possibility of a second civil war.

Nick Bryant explains how the hate, divisiveness and paranoia we see today are in fact a core part of America’s story. Combining brilliant storytelling, historical research and first-hand reportage, Bryant argues that insurrections, massacres and civil disturbances should sadly not be seen as abnormalities; they are a part of the fabric of the history of America.

The compromises originally designed to hold the union together have never truly been resolved and today, a country that once looked so confidently to the future has become captive to its contentious past.

Nick Bryant was one of the BBC’s most senior foreign correspondents, with postings in Washington DC, New York, South Asia and Australia. He is the author of When America Stopped Being Great. Nick studied history at Cambridge and has a doctorate in American history from Oxford. In 2021, Nick left the BBC, and now lives in Sydney with his wife and children.