Weapons of Democracy explores how ideas and concepts about public opinion developed in American intellectual thought from the end of the nineteenth century, through the Progressive Era, and into the early 1930s. Jonathan Auerbach makes a valuable contribution to a burgeoning literature exploring political, literary, and journalistic expressions of Progressive thought during the early twentieth century, by analysing how the three spheres intersected while also showing how the legacy of those ideas and associations left a subtle yet indelible mark on post-World War I American society as each battled for command of the public mind.

Auerbach begins by looking at how public opinion was first conceptualized and discussed in journalistic, literary, and political circles prior to World War I. The study is bolstered by a detailed analysis of literary works by political theorists, social commentators, and novelists, including Colonel Edward House, Woodrow Wilson, and Edward Bellamy. Auerbach brings the intellectual history of Progressive Era thought to life through his searching analysis of texts including Philip Dru: Administrator (1912) – a book that the author reveals was penned by Colonel House under a pseudonym. By doing this, Auerbach turns his study into a captivating read, while also adding analytical substance to the overall thesis of the book. The bulk of the study then assesses the practical application and coordination of those ideas during World War I by George Creel and the Committee of Public Information (CPI). This government-led effort to direct public opinion in support of the war recruited the best Progressive minds and incorporated their ideas, but, as Auerbach shows, the successful attempt to coordinate public opinion during the war led many to ask what impact this has had on the nation's democratic sensibilities.

The second half of the book assesses the lasting legacy of the CPI during the 1920s and early 1930s. Auerbach turns to political theorists Walter Lippmann and John Dewey, whom the author rightly identifies as influential in the development of two different, but related, theories about what “the public” and public opinion were. Lippmann's work remains particularly influential for its discussion of the dangers of propaganda, and the role of the press in the shaping of public opinion. A major strength of the study is the way that Auerbach connects these concepts to an emerging group of public-relations officials, a group that includes Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays. This group mastered public-relations techniques, institutionalized them, and advanced them beyond their wartime foundations, turning them into lucrative business opportunities. The final chapter is a case study in which Auerbach effectively ties the overlapping spheres of theoretical concepts of public opinion, politics, and public relations together by analysing how the techniques adapted and utilized by Bernays, Lee, and other public-relations officials were applied in the international context of American relations with Nazi Germany during the early 1930s.

Auerbach makes an important and coherent case for the ingenuity of these modes and methods of propaganda and their domestic and international application; however, the decision in the final pages of the book to draw parallels with George W. Bush and his administration's role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 is unnecessary. Although there is an important point to be made about continuity in intellectual thought about public opinion and propaganda, the parallel sounds a little overdrawn and does not really add much to the study. While contemporary relevance is helpful, readers can make these connections on their own with Auerbach's incisive exploration of the central themes in the study.

Weapons of Democracy is an important study that raises as many questions as it answers. By examining and linking the developing concepts of public opinion and propaganda, it also asks broader questions about the theme of American exceptionalism. Jonathan Auerbach shows how public opinion steadily adopted new meanings and interpretations across a fifty-year span of American history, while aptly presenting the shift between positive and negative uses of propaganda. Auerbach is particularly effective in showing how pervasive Progressive ideas about public opinion were in literary, journalistic, and political circles, but most importantly, he analyses the way they intersected with and drew inspiration from one another. It is on this final point that Weapons of Democracy makes its most critical contribution to our understanding of the lasting legacy of Progressive Era thought in American history.