Burning Down the House

initial excitement wore off as she discovered that the hulking, six-foot-three Newton was an alcoholic with a penchant for loitering at bars, playing pool, and gambling. In short order, his drinking habits deteriorated. Bar fights were a regular occurrence. He became physically intimidating and even abusive to her during his binges.

Still, Kit said yes when he proposed, hoping that marriage would mature him and make him take more responsibility for his behavior. It proved difficult for her to live with that rationalization for long. Before the wedding, Kit (only sixteen years old) got cold feet as his long nights at the bars increased. Kit told her mother that she didn't want to marry Newton. But her mother, a widow who had enjoyed a wonderful marriage, pressured her into going through with the wedding, reminding her daughter that the announcement was all set to run in the local newspaper, so it would be embarrassing to the family if she pulled out at the last minute.

The union only lasted three days. Kit walked out on her husband after he assaulted her for waking him up from a drunken stupor. Rather than reform his ways, Newton decided to join the navy during World War II. Within a few weeks, Kit learned that she was pregnant. Their son, whom she named Newton Leroy (Newt for short), was born in June. Her husband returned from the war on a temporary leave in August only to formally begin the divorce process. Kit moved back in with her mother to save money.

With no father at home and with his mother working at a local factory on wartime production, Newt depended on his extended family for nurturing during the war years. His grandmother, aunts, and uncles-all of whom lived in the working-class, Republican town of Hummelstown, just east of Harrisburg and on the way to Hershey-tried to offer Newt the parental support that he otherwise lacked. The small, picturesque community, founded before the American R

Newt Gingrich tied American politics to a rock and threw it down a well. That rock is still falling. Julian Zelizer s new book takes readers to the edge of that well, not to listen for the splash, but to grab the rope, and pull. Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States

With intensity and detail, Julian Zelizer recreates a drama that resounds in modern history. Most are well-acquainted with Newt Gingrich and his combative style, but here is the moment he transformed Congress and all of American politics.   Steve Kornacki, author of The Red and the Blue

In this essential history of Newt Gingrich, Zelizer shows that Donald Trump isn't so much an innovator as an imitator.  Zelizer argues that Gingrich wrote the modern Republican Party's destructive playbook, and the Democrats and the media have yet to figure out an effective response.   Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money and Chief Washington Correspondent, The New Yorker

"In this perfectly-timed book, one of America s premier historians tells the story of how our present madness began with a cunning, lying, hypocritical character assassin named Newt Gingrich. Zelizer offers a hugely important narrative of the 'evil wind' Gingrich brought to American politics by deposing the speaker of the House and casting the country into decades of bad feeling."  Jonathan Alter, author of The Center Holds

How did we arrive at today's hyper-partisan, polarized, gridlocked and dysfunctional politics? In this rich and riveting tale of Newt Gingrich's rise to power, ace historian Julian Zelizer makes a compelling argument that the former House Speaker is to blame.   John A. Farrell, author of Richard Nixon: The Life

A gripping read about the rise of a ruthless, no-holds-barred Republican mode of politics and its main architect--Newt Gingrich. Anyone struggling to contend with our current political crisis--meaning, everyone--will be well served by reading this timely book by one of our leading lights on the history of the U.S. Congress.   Joanne B. Freeman, author of The Field of Blood

Newt Gingrich was one of the most consequential figures in American politics in the Twentieth Century, with major responsibility for our current political turmoil. A lot has been written about the rise and fall of Newt. It takes a good historian to provide insight, new material and context to what we already know. Julian Zelizer is a first rate historian, and even for those of us present at Gingrich s emergence into national life, especially through his assault on Democratic Speaker Jim Wright, and throughout his career, Burning Down the House enlightens and enriches our understanding of a pivotal time in American life.   Norman Ornstein, co-author of It s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism