The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House

The explosive story of the Republican Party's intensely dramatic and fractious efforts to find its way back to unity and national dominance.

After the 2012 election, the GOP was in the wilderness. Lost and in disarray. And doggedly determined to do whatever it took to get back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. McKay Coppins has had unparalleled access to Republican presidential candidates, power brokers, lawmakers, and Tea Party leaders.

Based on more than 300 interviews, The Wilderness is the book that opens up the party like never before: the deep passions, larger-than-life personalities, and dagger-sharp power plays behind the scenes. In wildly colorful scenes, this exclusive look into the Republican Party at a pivotal moment in its history follows a cast of its rising stars, establishment figures, and loudmouthed insurgents—Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump, Scott Walker, and dozens of others—as they battle over the future of the party and its path to the presidency.

"Coppins is a dogged reporter . . . and a deft storyteller. . . . Lively and worthy reading for Americans who just can't get enough of one of the stranger major-party nomination fights in recent history." —San Francisco Chronicle "The Wilderness is a book that goes far to break up sound-bite, Twitter-enabled political messaging to reveal what voters need to know about this collection of self-styled rogues now fracturing the Grand Old Party." —Chicago Tribune "Coppins excels at personalizing the tale through the ambitions, tactics and delusions of his protagonists." —Washington Post

© 2025 Little, Brown and Company (Ebook): 9780316327466

Release date

Ebook: 1 May 2025