"Departing from the traditional historical consensus, Ira Katznelson examines the New Deal through a sweeping international lens that juxtaposes a struggling American democracy with the rise of competing dictatorships. In an age defined by a pervasive, almost existential fear, Katznelson argues that American democracy was both saved and distorted by a Faustian collaboration that safeguarded racial segregation as it built a new national state to manage capitalism and assert global power."--Page 4 of cover.