Nobel Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis sequestered himself on his Vermont farm during the summer of 1935 and hammered away on his latest novel. He was in a hurry, fearing that real-world events might overtake his narrative.

For his plot, Lewis drew from national and international headlines of the day, but he made the main character a Vermont newspaper editor and set most of the story among the green valleys of his adopted home. For 12 hours a day, seven days a week, Lewis plotted his story and then tapped it out on his portable typewriter, before making copious handwritten revisions to the text. He finished the 498-page manuscript on August 13. It told a story sure to grab the public’s attention.

The resulting book, “It Can’t Happen Here,” was an instant bestseller. It tells the dystopian story of a populist American politician, Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, who stokes people’s fears and preys on their patriotism, promising sweeping reforms to return the country to its original values. Windrip defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the Democratic primary and is then elected president. Once in power, Windrip leads a fascist takeover of the United States. He declares martial law to neutralize Congress, which had refused to pass his legislation, and disempower the Supreme Court, which could have blocked his decrees. Windrip’s violent paramilitary force, the Minute Men, suppresses opposition. Windrip seizes control of the media in a way that makes it appear the country still has a free press; he censors some journalists while co-opting others to spread his propaganda.

In 1935, Lewis, like many Americans, was alarmed by the rise of fascism in Europe, led by Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy. Lewis was well informed about the situation, hearing firsthand details from his wife, famed journalist Dorothy Thompson, who had been a correspondent in Germany. Thompson had interviewed Hitler when he was still aspiring to power and wrote a dismissive profile. Hitler didn’t forget the slight. After he became German chancellor, he had Thompson expelled from the country.

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