A Colony in a Nation

In A Colony in a Nation, New York Times best-selling author and Emmy Award-winning news anchor Chris Hayes upends the national conversation on policing and democracy. Drawing on wide-ranging historical, social, and political analysis, as well as deeply personal experiences with law enforcement, Hayes contends that our country has fractured in two: the Colony and the Nation. In the Nation, the law is venerated. In the Colony, fear and order undermine civil rights. With great empathy, Hayes seeks to understand this systemic divide, examining its ties to racial inequality, the omnipresent threat of guns, and the dangerous and unfortunate results of choices made by fear.

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Published Mar 6, 2018

272 pages

Average rating: 8.75

4 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Groundhogcat
Oct 24, 2025
8/10 stars
A succinct overview of a divided nation. The nation is mainly composed of people of privilege who enjoy a good life. The colony is composed of everyone else and is heavily policed. Much of the job of the police is to make sure the colony does not impinge upon the nation.

Good description of this United States.

My one main complaint about the book is that it does not offer any solutio

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