How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good

National political commentator Steve Phillips’s “politically charged and thoughtfully reasoned” (Kirkus Reviews) How We Win the Civil War helped chart the way forward for progressives and people of color, arguing that Democrats must recognize the nature of the fight we’re in, which is a contest between democracy and white supremacy left unresolved after the Civil War. Combining a powerful grasp of history with Phillips’s trademark, no-nonsense political critique, this “spirited and persuasive . . . rousing call for change” (Publishers Weekly) argues that we will not overcome until we govern as though we are under attack—until we finally recognize that the time has come to finish the conquest of the Confederacy and all that it represents.

With a new preface laying out what is at stake in the 2024 general election, Phillips delivers razor-sharp prescriptions for the new political season, including specific guidance for politicians, policymakers, and ordinary citizens alike. “A foundational contribution to the emerging field of multiracial democracy” (Spencer Overton), How We Win the Civil War is the essential political book for 2024 and beyond—showing us how to rid our politics of white supremacy, once and for all.

Steve Phillips is a New York Times bestselling author, columnist, and national political thought leader. He is the author of The New York Times and Washington Post bestselling Brown Is the New White as well as How We Win the Civil War and Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else? (all from The New Press); he is also the founder of Democracy in Color, a political media organization dedicated to race, politics, and the multicultural New American Majority. Phillips is the host of Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips, a color-conscious podcast on politics. He is a regular columnist for The Nation and The Guardian.