Book · 2020 · Political Science
American Crusade
Our Fight to Stay Free
Why people recommend it
American Crusade by Pete Hegseth is a 2020 political manifesto that outlines a nationalist ideology, calls for an aggressive Christian stance in public life, and aligns closely with ascendant Christian nationalist movements. The book was analyzed in depth across multiple episodes of Behind the Bastards, where host Robert Evans provided a critical reading of its contents. Evans discussed the book primarily to examine its underlying worldview, characterizing it as a fascist manifesto that advocates for Christian theocracy and demonstrates a refusal among its proponents to coexist with ideological opponents. During the episodes, Evans quoted directly from the text to highlight Hegseth's rhetoric, noting how the author frames contemporary political struggles in terms of a holy war and a righteous crusade for human freedom. Evans also analyzed the book's timing and intent, explaining that the publication served as both a tie-in political maneuver and a calculated effort to capture Donald Trump's attention, culminating in Hegseth's later political appointments. By dissecting the arguments and calls to action within American Crusade, the podcast provided listeners with a critical examination of the authoritarian rhetoric and religious nationalist themes present in contemporary right-wing political literature.
Who recommended it
- Robert Evans Discussed
- Joe Rogan Discussed
Robert Evans — 8 mentions
“You know what's not going to be fun? Returning to Pete Seth's fascist manifesto.”
“So, um, yeah, the underlying truth that is revealed by reading American Crusade is that people like Pete Hegath and his fellow evangelical dominionists have no desire to coexist with anyone else.”
“It's easy to see why Hegsth is drawn to this [ __ ] American Crusade is a book that advocates for Christian theocracy.”
“Um, Pete, his book is not a blueprint, right? He's advocating for the same things. He's clearly supportive even though he says, "I'm not saying violence, but we also literally need to go to war, right?”
“I had initially planned for this to just be a book episode reading Pete Hegathth's terrible fascist book, American Crusade, which unfortunately people do need to be aware of because he's the Secretary of Defense now.”
“and he writes in 2020 a manifesto/book called American Crusade which is one of those both like tie-in I'm trying to get more into politics.”
“As part of his ongoing attempt to both identify himself with the ascendant Christian nationalist movement and to force Trump to take note of him, in 2020, he publishes the book American Crusade, right?”
“Thus this time in our history calls for an all caps American crusade. Yes, a holy war for the righteous cause of human freedom.”
Joe Rogan — 1 mention
“and in his book if you read americ crusade in his book wait a second his book be honest I am”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
- The Gulag Archipelago
- The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate
- Walden
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Yeah. American Crusade.”
“I found the free copy of this book online, by the way. I didn't pay for it. If you just Google full text free, you can find it, too.”