This book both explores why America has largely escaped the foreign political and religious fanaticism that was expressed in the September 11th, 2001 attack and presents a brief history of some of the most destructive examples of similar fanaticism. Blackman discusses why the constitutional structure of dispersed power that the American Framers created has been so successful. He then contrasts this success with the disastrous results produced by various political revolutionaries who believed either in nationalistic superiority (Hitler) or egalitarianism (Robespierre, Lenin, Stalin and Mao). The book also serves as a cautionary tale by providing examples of fanatical utopian experiments that rational Americans would not want replicated here.