On 6 January 2021, a violent and deadly mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the lawful transfer of the presidency to Joe Biden. Trump was impeached for inciting this insurrection, but a majority of House Republicans still voted with the mob to challenge Biden’s victory. This event brings a new sense of urgency to the questions: What is Trump? How did it happen? How can it be fixed?

Timothy K. Kuhner’s latest book, Tyranny of Greed: Trump, Corruption, and the Revolution to Come, argues that Trump is Mammon, a demon who rose to power because the United States repeatedly failed to confront its mounting problem with corruption and greed. Kuhner writes, “What is Donald J. Trump? Ultimately, he’s a mirror of the nation’s innermost pathology and dysfunction, which could no longer be tamed, papered over, or dressed up for polite company. Our demon broke free and took over” (p. 149). The argument supporting this thesis is fast-paced, concise, comprehensive, nontechnical, and timely. It epitomizes the mission of its publisher, the Stanford Brief Series, but the book deserves higher praise. Kuhner’s organization, argumentative style, and interdisciplinary evidence (including vivid religious i