From the anti-vaccination movement to citizen blogging to uninformed attacks on GMOs, the nation has witnessed a surge in intellectual egalitarianism. While increased access to information undoubtedly brings some societal benefits, the leap to enlightenment that millions of lightly educated people believe they make after scouring WebMD or Wikipedia undermines established sources of knowledge.

Table of Contents ; Introduction ; A Nation of Explainers ; Chapter One ; Higher Education: The Customer is Always Right ; Chapter Two ; Let me Google That for You: The Impact of the Internet ; Chapter Three ; History is Bunk, and So is Science: How Conversation Became Exhausting ; Chapter Four ; The New Journalism - and New Journalists ; Chapter Five ; Don't Blame Us: Why Expertise and Policy Aren't the Same Thing ; Chapter Six ; When the Experts are Wrong ; Conclusion ; Democracy, Expertise, and Citizenship

"Nichols expands his 2014 article published by The Federalist with a highly researched and impassioned book that's well timed for this post-election period... strongly researched textbook for laymen will have many political and news junkies nodding their heads in agreement." - Publishers Weekly "Tom Nichols is fighting a rear-guard action on behalf of those dangerous people who actually know what they are talking about. In a compelling, and often witty, polemic, he explores why experts are routinely disregarded and what might be done to get authoritative knowledge taken more seriously." - Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London, and author of Strategy "We live in a post-fact age, one that's dangerous for a whole host of reasons. Here is a book that not only acknowledges this reality, but takes it head on. Persuasive and well-written, The Death of Expertise is exactly the book needed for our times." - Ian Bremmer, President and Founder, Eurasia Group "Americans are indifferent to real journalism in forming their opinions, hoaxes prove harder to kill than a slasher-flick monster, and the word 'academic' is often hurled like a nasty epithet. Tom Nichols has put his finger on what binds these trends together: positive hostility to established knowledge. The Death of Expertise is trying to turn back this tide." - Dan Murphy, former Middle East and Southeast Asia Bureau Chief, The Christian Science Monitor "Tom Nichols has written a brilliant, timely, and very original book. He shows how the digital revolution, social media, and the internet have helped to foster a cult of ignorance. Nichols makes a compelling case for reason and rationality in our public and political discourse." - Robert J. Lieber, Georgetown University, and author of Retreat and Its Consequences "Tom Nichols does a breathtakingly detailed job in scrutinizing the American consumer's refutation of traditional expertize. In the era of escapism and denial, he offers a refreshing and timely book on how we balance our skepticism with trust going forward." - Salena Zito, national political reporter for The Washington Examiner, CNN, The New York Post, and RealClearPolitics "Timely...useful...in providing an overview of just how we arrived at this distressing state of affairs." - New York Times "This may sound like a rant you have heard before, but Nichols has a sense of humour and chooses his examples well. His anger is a lot more attractive than the standard condescension." - Financial Times "A genial guide through the wilderness of ignorance." - Kirkus Reviews "Nichols is a forceful and sometimes mordant commentator, with an eye for the apt analogy." - Inside Higher Education "Americans are indifferent to real journalism in forming their opinions, hoaxes prove harder to kill than a slasher-flick monster, and the word 'academic' is often hurled like a nasty epithet. Tom Nichols has put his finger on what binds these trends together: positive hostility to established knowledge. The Death of Expertise is trying to turn back this tide." - Dan Murphy, former Middle East and Southeast Asia Bureau Chief, The Christian Science Monitor "Excellent"- The Washington Post "Nichols' perspective is an essential one if we are to begin digging ourselves out of the hole we find ourselves in."- National Public Radio "A sweeping indictment of the deliberate, widespread and ultimately self-destructive devaluing of knowledge in America."- Politico "Buy this book. And read it. Regularly."- Physics World Amazon Best Nonfiction of 2017

Selling point: Powerful and scathing indictment of the many forces trying to undermine the authority of experts in the US Selling point: Makes the case that higher education is making the problem worse rather than better Selling point: Ties the rise of anti-expertise sentiment and anti-intellectualism not only to the pervasiveness of the internet, but to other technologies such as the explosion of media options Selling point: Concedes that experts do make mistakes, but argues that the key point is the ability of other well-informed experts to challenge these mistakes and lead to solutions Selling point: The author is a five-time undefeated Jeopardy! champion, and as one of the all-time top players of the game, he was invited back to play in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions

Tom Nichols is Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College, an adjunct professor at the Harvard Extension School, and a former aide in the U.S. Senate. He is also the author of several works on foreign policy and international security affairs, including The Sacred Cause, No Use: Nuclear Weapons and U.S. National Security, Eve of Destruction: The Coming Age of Preventive War, and The Russian Presidency. He is also a five-time undefeated Jeopardy! champion, and as one of the all-time top players of the game, he was invited back to play in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Nichols' website is tomnichols.net and he can be found on Twitter at @RadioFreeTom.

Selling point: Powerful and scathing indictment of the many forces trying to undermine the authority of experts in the US Selling point: Makes the case that higher education is making the problem worse rather than better Selling point: Ties the rise of anti-expertise sentiment and anti-intellectualism not only to the pervasiveness of the internet, but to other technologies such as the explosion of media options Selling point: Concedes that experts do make mistakes, but argues that the key point is the ability of other well-informed experts to challenge these mistakes and lead to solutions Selling point: The author is a five-time undefeated Jeopardy! champion, and as one of the all-time top players of the game, he was invited back to play in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions