While well-written and interesting, this book didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. If you were paying attention to the January 6th Committee hearings, none of this will be news to you.

If you want to relive the trauma of the Trump presidency, then this will do it for you.
In all seriousness, this is a comprehensive summary of everything that happened during his 2016 run, his 4 years in the White House and on January 6th.

I think if you've been playing close attention nothing new will be presented here, but for the casual observer this will be an eye opening timeline and explanation of how Trump was able to manipulate the masses and bully his peers into blindly supporting him.

Trump's determination to appear strong, and willingness to lie about both small and big things in order to create a narrative that keeps him in power, has completely undermined not only our democracy, but has destroyed a large portion of the population's ability to trust reality. It has created an environment in which people will only believe what makes them feel good/strong and they will steamroll anyone who gets in the way of that.

We will dealing with the aftermath of his time in office for decades, and it's important for people to understand, that Trump will continue to work towards regaining the power of the White House. But even more importantly, he has shown others the playbook on how to achieve the same kind of power and those who will be even more skilled at playing the game will be looking to replace him in 2024. If America wants to remain a democracy, it's critical that everyone remain vigilant and show up to the polls at EVERY election.

***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

What an eye opener. I didn't follow it all on the tv or internet as it was a lot of personal opinion added to it I thought. When I read this book I was totally shocked at all the things that went down. I a not one of those people that stick their head in the sand and don't see what is happening I just didn't know to what extent. I am a Trump supporter and I firmly believe that this book should be read by all. Yes, even those of us that support Trump. Awesome job.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC!

The Big Lie is a fascinating look at the way out 45th president prepared the nation to believe his totally false and spurious claims of widespread voter fraud. The author highlights some of the pivotal moments that led people to believe that such a thing was even possible. Very well written, and equally well narrated. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is ready to embrace the truth about the harm that a megalomaniac with an outsized ego can cause to a democratic system of government.

The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 by Jonathan Lemire

Audiobook
Listening Time: 10 hours, 20 minutes, 12 seconds
Publisher: MacMillan Audio / Flatiron Books
Release Date: July 26, 2022

Nonfiction, Politics, Elections, Civil Unrest, Historic

The big lie begins back before the 2016 election. In fact, its origin goes back to the Obama presidency. Trump set up the lie to create chaos with the birther movement and then he ran for president. When he lost in 2020, he put the big lie into motion. Now the Republican party cannot do anything that would put them on his bad side, or he would retaliate.

This is a historic book that everyone should listen to. The book is narrated by the author and is easy to listen and understand. I was blown away by the facts and details included in the story. I highly recommend this book.

If you are an avid need watched or reader, much in this book will not be a surprise. What this book does do really well is lay it all out in a clear, concise and linear manner. Starting on 2016 when then candidate Trump first started his big lie theory by saying if I ton won, he won't accept it because the vote would surely be rigged.

His first big lie in the White House was about the crowd size at his inaugural address, insisting his was bigger than Obama's had been. It wasn't, but in a clear sign of of the toadying that would last throughout his Presidency and beyond, they doctored the photo. Major appeasement and the first step of a White House that would continue this practice at the expense of truth. And so alternate facts came to be and fed to the American people.

It checks and balances that were supposed to keep the events that followed, an assault on our government on January 6th, from happening utterly failed. It failed because the GOP, instead of standing up to and calling out his lies, instead used them for their own political purposes. Are still doing so despite the imminent threat to our democracy.

The audio was read by the author himself who did a wonderful job in both the narration and writing of this book.

ARC from Netgalley.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my Advanced Reader Copy for an honest review.

(Audiobook version)

This provides an excellent breakdown of how Trump has convinced so many people that he "won" reelection and how and why we know that he knows that he lost. It breaks down everything from Trump throwing his hat in the ring the first election, to his ongoing battle to convince the world that he should still rightfully be president, including January 6th. Unfortunately, I don't believe it will convince anyone he has already duped, if they even bothered to pick up the book.

The author, a journalist who watched everything up close, does an excellent job of breaking everything down to manageable pieces, using plain English that doesn't need explanation to understand what he's talking about.

The audiobook was easy to listen to and understand.

If you have doubts about whether to believe Trump or not, this would be a good primer to help you understand what happened when and the bare facts of The Big Lie.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was fantastic! I'm deeply interested in politics and have closely watched our country descend into madness. It feels like people are living in two separate and distinct realities.

This book covered things I already knew, but there were several topics discussed that I hadn't been aware of. The author was humorous at times, especially when recounting some of the most ridiculous things trump said during his presidency. Although it was very serious subject matter, I found myself chuckling at the absurdity of the whole situation. This was well written and well researched. While it primarily focused on the big lie, trump's entire presidency is broken down to show how far back the big lie goes and how extensive Trump's lying was. Five stars. Great narration.

Advanced copy (audiobook) review: Excellect and informative read/listen. Lemire is a journalist and political correspondent by trade. The reader does not need to know a lot of political jargon to understand his writing. He keeps the reader intrigued by the language he uses and the descriptions of what was witnessed. Lemire walks the reader through events leading up to Donald Trump's campaign, election, presidency, his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, his claims of election fraud, January 6, 2021, and the chaos that followed. There are some details that were well known to the public making this this book a bit eye opening. "The Big Lie" gave me better understanding of how the average Republican got sucked into the cult of Donald Trump and it is terrifying. I highly recommend this book for anyone that is on the fence about voting for a far right candidate or anyone who wants a better understanding of how the US got to where we are now. There were parts of the book that were difficult to get through. The memories of the Trump years are still very fresh. Many are still process everything that happened during this time.