American War cover art

American War

a dystopian novel of survival in a divided America, for fans of Station Eleven

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American War

By: Omar El Akkad
Narrated by: Dion Graham
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About this listen

A Best Book of the Year: The Guardian, The Observer, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post.

2074. America's future is Civil War. Sarat's reality is survival. They took her father, they took her home, they told her lies . . .

She didn't start this war, but she'll end it.

Omar El Akkad’s powerful debut novel imagines a dystopian future: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague and one family caught deep in the middle. In American War, we’re asked to consider what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons against itself.

 Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction War & Military War Louisiana

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Critic reviews

[An] exciting debut . . . what sets this impressive book apart from other dystopian novels is the fully realised plausibility of the scenario El Akkad’s created, the roots of which can be all too easily identified in the world around us today… As diverting a read as this engrossing novel is, American War should no doubt also be read as a cautionary tale.
Informed by writer El Akkad's experiences working as a journalist in Afghanistan and Egypt's Arab Spring, this is a timely and haunting book that reflects our uncertain era.
Impressive . . . the novel’s evocation of the future is so sharply observed and so anchored in an informed reading of present geopolitics that it is hard to resist . . . It comments intelligently on the world today, where displaced millions are broiling in camps or trying to eke out a better life elsewhere, at whatever cost.
[American War] creates as haunting a post-apocalyptic universe as Cormac McCarthy did in The Road, and as devastating a look at the fallout that national events have on an American family as Philip Roth did in The Plot Against America . . . El Akkad has written a novel that not only maps the harrowing effects of violence on one woman and her family, but also becomes a disturbing parable about the ruinous consequences of war on ordinary civilians. (Michiko Kakutani)
It is an ambitious concept and El Akkad . . . pulls it off in an imaginative feat of world building . . . American War is an assured debut and El Akkad’s experience as a war reporter lends a grisly realism to proceedings . . . A vivid and nightmarish vision of an all-too-conceivable future.
American War is an extraordinary novel. El Akkad’s story of a family caught up in the collapse of an empire is as harrowing as it is brilliant, and has an air of terrible relevance in these partisan times. (Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven)
[A] striking debut . . . El Akkad is well equipped to speculate on the way in which our present predicaments might spark brutal conflict: he has seen those conflicts for himself . . . the book’s politics and its situations are all too believable.
Disturbingly plausible . . . a tale of a future America torn asunder by its own political and tribal affiliations . . . The novel’s thriller premise notwithstanding, Akkad applies a literary writer’s care to his depiction of Sarat’s psychological unpacking and the sensory details of her life . . . Whether read as a cautionary tale of partisanship run amok, an allegory of past conflicts or a study of the psychology of war, American War is a deeply unsettling novel. The only comfort the story offers is that it’s a work of fiction. For the time being, anyway. (Justin Cronin)
The comment being made on the Trump administration is impossible to miss in this engaging novel . . . It paints a bleak picture pf the future of humanity if climate change and the divisions of our society are not addressed now.
All stars
Most relevant
I was totally gripped by this story: apart from the validity of such a storyline in our days, when displacement and migration is used to alienate nations, I found that the language is beautiful. Such well constructed sentences, and a narrative that runs in front of your eyes like a film. Like another listener said, this may make a great series for the tv.

What a book to conclude 2025

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I think I heard about this book on te 1A podcast during an interview of the author (I could be mistaken). The book sounded interesting and so i pre-ordered the audio book.
I cannot tell you how much this book affected me and how sad I am that there isn't more. It brings closer to reality the ramifications of our actions as a country, from denial of climate change and refusing to change to reusable resources, to prejudices that are developed as the result of a divided country, to how extremism is born.
I would be surprised if this book isn't picked up by English departments to be read and analysed in the same way that Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm are.
I repeat--everyone needs to experience this book.

Every One NEEDS to Experience This

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A profound book about the effects of being displaced by war, and its brutalising effects on civilians.

It’s set in late 21st century America, but is in fact a light being shone on the brutalising lives being led in today’s war zones.

Don’t let this put you off, it is also gripping. I could not wait to get back to it any moment I had.

Terrifically written, with bravura scenes. Great narration.

Excellent, harrowing and extraordinary

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Throughout the entire time reading this, all I could think of is the fact that this would look amazing as a TV series. This dystopian novel explores how the north and south of the United States are divided in the latter half of the 21st century after fossil fuels are banned due to extreme flooding in Florida.

It is written in the perspective of a dying historian in the 22nd century, attempting to recollect the role of his aunt, who essentially was leading the insurgency against the north. She was as much a victim as aggressor in this novel, being groomed as a child soldier and being tortured in prison as a young adult. In the background, a rising Pan-Arab empire helps stoke the fires in the US.

It is slow but relentless, and rather fitting for what is currently happening all over the world. A fascinating read indeed.

Epic novel about the Second American Civil War

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This book deserves consideration as one of the best contemporary looks at America’s place in the world and how it can be viewed from the point of view of those it helps

Thought provoking

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