Neiwert walks through a wide variety of cultural movements and subcultures on the right, exploring how they connect, how they affect each other, and how they interpret the outside world.

He investigates the manner by which the New World Order conspiracy theory and the white supremacist movement during the Civil Rights era presaged these new growths during the Clinton administration.

[2] The Washington Post highlights how Neiwert goes beyond particular conservative schisms of online subcultures to try to paint a picture of how the different facets of the alt-right, the right wing, and conspiracy theorists connect to create new dynamics and American modes of behavior.

[1] The International Socialist Review (ISR) describes the book as a fully comprehensive "narrative encyclopedia" that provides a fully-developed, highly methodical view of the history that keeps the reader engaged through its "dramatic" tone.

Though the ISR finds "Neiwert’s prescriptions for defeating the alt-right... disappointing—a focus on human empathy in talking with others, nonviolent protest, and the use of the ballot box", it comes to the conclusion that book serves as "an excellent and necessary guide".