The wrong 'Fire and Fury': an old book by the same name
Courtney Tenz
January 10, 2018
While everyone is talking about "Fire and Fury," an exposé of the Trump White House by journalist Michael Wolff, a book with the same name published in 2009 is seeing renewed sales.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
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Though critically-acclaimed, until just recently, the decade-old book, "Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945" had sold just 15,000 total copies.
Suddenly last week, however, online booksellers began marking an increase in sales that caught the attention of its author, Randall Hansen, a professor of political science in Toronto. Those sales came just as news of "Fire and Fury," a book with the same name which is said to reveal the inner workings of a chaotic White House under President Donald Trump, was leaked.
While the new book, written by journalist Michael Wolff, was released early due to popular demand, others appear to have bought the wrong book of the same name. "I don't know how much of this is a mistake and how much of this is from new interest created by free advertising," Hansen told The New York Times in an interview.
The (wrong) book many are buyingImage: Penguin Random House
Hansen's scholarly work documents the aerial bombing campaign undertaken by the US and UK against Germany during World War II with an eye toward its impact on civilians. The interim director at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto who focuses on migration finds the renewed focus on his book — and its subject matter — an amusing twist.
In an interview with Canadian Broadcaster CBC, Hansen said, "It's amusing, but my sales don't matter. What I hope will happen is that in the moment when we have this demagogue, this unstable demagogue in the White House threatening war, that people who read my book will reflect on the morality of war and above all, the horrific consequences of war for civilians. And if that happens, this will have all not only been fun, but worth it."
'Fire and Fury': A look inside Donald Trump's White House
Even before publication, a new book by American journalist Michael Wolff has triggered anger in Washington. Based on interviews with high-ranking officials and Trump himself, it offers a rare view into the White House.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
'Fire and Fury'
Excerpts published by US and British news outlets from American journalist Michael Wolff's new book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" about US President Donald Trump's administration have offered a look into the inner workings of the White House. From finding comfort in McDonald's hamburgers to Ivanka's presidential dreams, here are some excerpts from the book.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Camp
'Melania was in tears'
"Shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, when the unexpected trend – Trump might actually win – seemed confirmed, Don Jr. told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears – and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour ... a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/V. Mayo
Ivanka Trump the 'first woman president'?
"Balancing risk against reward, both Jared (Kushner) and Ivanka decided to accept roles in the West Wing over the advice of almost everyone they knew ... Between themselves, the two had made an earnest deal: If sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she'd be the one to run for president. The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/M. Sohn
Finding comfort in fast food
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's – nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made."
Image: Instagram
Bannon's theories
"The real enemy, (Bannon) said, was China. China was the first front in a new Cold War. China's everything. Nothing else matters. We don't get China right, we don't get anything right. This whole thing is very simple. China is where Nazi Germany was in 1929 to 1930. The Chinese, like the Germans, are the most rational people in the world, until they're not."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/B. Anderson
Bannon: Donald Jr. was 'treasonous'
"(Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25th floor – with no lawyers … Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately," Bannon said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/C. Kaster
'Losing was winning'
"Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities. Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement ... Melania Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching. Losing was winning."
