As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the American experiment is failing. Division, mistrust and misinformation are now its defining characteristics. The storming of the Capitol, the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the increasing spotlight on Second Amendment rights raise the spectre of further political violence, and even the possibility of a second civil war.

Nick Bryant argues that the hate, divisiveness and paranoia we see today are in fact a core part of America's story. Combining brilliant storytelling with historical research, Bryant argues that insurrections, assassinations and massacres - from the American Civil War through to JFK and the inner-city race riots of the late '60s, up to the more recent school shootings and the murder of George Floyd - should sadly not be seen as abnormalities.

The compromises originally designed to hold the union together - the Amendments made in the Reconstruction era to give rights back to former enslaved people, the apportionment of political power - have never truly been resolved. Today, a country that looked confidently to the future has become captive to its contentious past.