I'm in the middle of an interesting history of Nazi Germany, one that takes the longer view: National Socialism had its roots in earlier political and social movements dating back to the unification of Germany in 1871.

The modern reader--that is, a gawker at the train wreck that is American democracy--would agree with Mark Twain that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Trump today is tapping into a deep vein of American racism going back to reconstruction. The ground was prepared for Trump a long time ago.

Similarly, but not exactly, anti-semitism played the same role in Germany, and provided a similar scapegoat for the aspiring fascist dictator. Hitler mined the vein of bigotry in his countrymen just as Trump is mining his.

I'm sure I'll be inspired to post more inspired by this book, The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans. First of three volumes. I like his deeper view of a history most of us know only shallowly.