Finish What We Started

The MAGA Movement's Ground War to End Democracy

By: Isaac Arnsdorf

Narrated by: Will Damron

The immersive, captivating untold story of the mass radicalization of the Republican Party in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, entrenching the political power of a radical right-wing movement dedicated to dismantling democracy itself.

Inspired by Donald Trump’s election lies, a growing movement of grassroots activists mobilized around the country to pick up where the insurrection left off, laying the groundwork to succeed next time where Trump had failed to keep himself in power. But their own success in taking over and purging the Republican Party became their undoing as it drove away moderates and supplied the Democrats with a winning message in the 2022 midterms. Still, the MAGA Republicans proved uninterested in learning from that defeat, only becoming more extreme, divisive, and dead set on returning Trump to power.

Washington Post national political reporter Isaac Arnsdorf has spent years at the forefront of reporting on this growing movement. Drawing on extensive, exclusive on-the-ground reporting around the country, and deepened by historical context, Arnsdorf has produced the defining journalistic account of the origins, evolution and future of the MAGA movement. Combining critical and rigorous reporting with the intimacy and complexity of a novel, this book is unlike any other in the decade since Donald Trump convulsed and transformed American politics.

Finish What We Started tells the story of the ordinary Americans driving this change, who they are and where they came from, what motivates them, and what their movement means for the survival of American democracy.

New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice

"Entertaining, enlightening and disturbing." —Ira Glass, American public radio personality

Critic reviews

“Finish What We Started is a bracing, deeply reported dispatch from the front lines of the MAGA movement — a movement that, as Isaac Arnsdorf convincingly shows here, is more radical and determined than ever as it gathers force for Trump’s campaign to reclaim the White House.”—Joshua Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Devil’s Bargain

“Isaac Arnsdorf is a political journalist par excellence, whose work is shaped by deep, immersive reporting, perceptive analysis and a keen understanding of history. Finish What We Started is a sophisticated yet unnerving portrait of the MAGA movement and a stark preview of what a second Trump term might portend. This is urgent and essential reading for anyone who cares about the state of America’s democracy.”—Philip Rucker, co-author of the New York Times bestselling A Very Stable Genius

“Isaac Arnsdorf ventures beyond the punditry of Washington, D.C and delivers a revealing, distinctive look at how our nation's democracy might be forever changed. Peppered with scoops and fresh insight, Finish What We Started manages to be both spritely and ominous, a closely-reported depiction of the reorientation of modern politics.” —Robert Samuels, New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer-Prize winning co-author of His Name is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

"This book is extraordinary. By turning the lens away from the palace intrigues that crowd far too many Trump books, patiently earning the trust of his most devoted grassroots followers to document without adornment what they actually say and think instead, Isaac Arnsdorf has provided an invaluable service for future historians. But you can read it now. And you must. Your jaw will drop. Even mine did."—Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland

“Many have been surprised at the radicalization of the Republican Party by fringe extremists but Isaac Arnsdorf, a talented young political reporter has been ahead of this story from the start. Now, in vivid and chilling detail he takes readers inside the grassroots of the MAGA movement as its foot soldiers fight to take over not just the Republican Party, but the entire country. Anyone trying to understand how America has come to the brink of embracing authoritarianism in 2024 should read this engagingly told yet terrifying book.”—Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

I'm terrified for our country's future

it takes some very good writing to elicit sympathy from me for a republican these days.

The maga movement has torn this country apart. this book made me actually contemplate how a normal Republican must view the situation.

Having watched the lies and disinformation spread like wildfire over the course of the last 8 years, this book really brings home the point that many of these people genuinely believe what they claim to believe; which is somehow scarier to me than grifters just trying to make a quick buck.

How many people have been brainwashed by the likes of Alex Jones or Fox news? How many people died needlessly during the pandemic because they got their news from a disreputable source that traffic in fear instead of reality?
this book does a fantastic job of pointing out how the Republican Party became what it currently is. but the author does not come forth with ideas to fix it or to combat it.

Blending of Narrative and truth

Author is a very gifted story teller and their ability to blend information with aspects of truth, al in nh with narrators obvious talent made for an enjoyable listening experience

We’re all doomed

This is the scariest book I’ve read in ages. If you add up the IQs of the most brilliant minds in Trump world, they would add up to a collection 105. Maybe 109. What is wrong with this country? Be very afraid. And vote. Please?

Movement Dissected

Great and fresh perspective on a modern day movement and how it appeals to the under served human need for purpose and mobilizes and encourages domination and control. Point of view is told through a group of short stories of those in the movement and how it impacts grassroots. My opinion is Radicalism first, revolution next, then we have animal farm all over again. Don’t kill Farmer Joe Democracy in exchange for tyranny and a mad king. Ole Farmer Joe might not be so bad after all.

This book appeals to a return to the republican who still wants a democracy and rule of law.

Mass Mental Illness

Listening to this book made me alternately angry or sad. These people are living in an alternative reality where all normal people are corrupt and they are fearless saving America from Marxism or globalism or some other kind of system they don’t even understand. There are some bright spots; I admire true conservatives who fight a losing battle against the MAGA tied overtaking the GOP. I am a liberal Democrat myself, but I admire those like her and Liz Cheney who side with country over party. It’s scary, because has at least an even chance to win back the White House over a guy that historians, including myself consider a pretty good president