Far-right political ideologies and movements Books

Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES TOP THREE BESTSELLER; Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History 2018; One of the Daily Telegraph's Best Books of 2017; A Guardian 'Readers' Choice' Best Book of 2017; Without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what's right in front of your eyes?; The events that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1945 were dramatic and terrible but there were also moments of confusion, of doubt - of hope. How easy was it to know what was actually going on, to grasp the essence of National Socialism, to remain untouched by the propaganda or predict the Holocaust?; Travellers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including students, politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, journalists, fascists, artists, tourists, even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler - one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere.; These are the accidental eyewitnesses to history. Disturbing, absurd, moving, and ranging from the deeply trivial to the deeply tragic, their tales give a fresh insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes and its ultimate destruction.Trade Review"A compelling historical narrative ... both flatters and challenges our hindsight. [Boyd] lets her voices, skilfully orchestrated, speak for themselves, which they do with great eloquence" - The Daily Telegraph; "Fascinating ... surreal scenes pepper Boyd's deep trawl of travellers' tales from the scores of visitors who were drawn to the `new Germany' in the 1930s" - The Spectator; "Contains many amazing anecdotes ... It warns us that we, with our all-seeing hindsight, might ourselves have been fooled or beguiled or inclined to make excuses, had we been there at the time. I can thoroughly recommend it as a contribution to knowledge and an absorbing and stimulating book in itself" - Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday; "A fascinating book" -- Robert Elms, BBC Radio London; "To a younger generation it seems incomprehensible that after the tragic Great War people and political leaders allowed themselves to march into the abyss again. Julia Boyd's book, drawing on wide experience and forensic research, seeks to answer some of these questions." -- Randolph Churchill; "With an almost novelistic touch, [Boyd] presents a range of stories of human interest ... The uncomfortable moral of Travellers in the Third Reich is that people see and hear only what they already want to see and hear" -- David Pryce-Jones, Standpoint; "Fascinating ... This absorbing and beautifully organised book is full of small encounters that jolt the reader into a historical past that seems still very near" - Lucy Lethbridge, The Tablet; "In the 1930s the most cultured and technologically advanced country in Europe tumbled into the abyss. In this deeply researched book Julia Boyd lets us view Germany's astonishing fall through foreign eyes. Her vivid tapestry of human stories is a delightful, often moving read. It also offers sobering lessons for our own day when strong leaders are again all the rage" -- Professor David Reynolds, author of The Long Shadow: The Great War and the 20th Century; "Drawing on the unpublished experiences of outsiders inside the Third Reich, Julia Boyd provides dazzling new perspectives on the Germany that Hitler built. Her book is a tour de force of historical research" - Dr Piers Brendon, author of The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s"What was Nazi Germany really like in the run up to the Second World War? Julia Boyd's painstakingly researched and deeply nuanced book shows how this troubled country appeared to travellers of the 1930s who did not have the benefit of hindsight. A truly fascinating read" -- Keith Lowe, Sunday Times bestselling author of Savage Continent and Inferno; "Engrossing ... skilfully woven together to create a three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler that has many resonances for today" -- Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller; "A revealing and original account. Some of Adolf Hitler's fellow travellers, lulled by self-deception, gulled by propaganda, deluded themselves about Nazi Germany as they deceived others" - Sir John Tusa; "Julia Boyd has conducted a vast range and volume of research. The numerous witnesses of Germany under Hitler whom she quotes have different ages, nationalities, backgrounds and opinions. Out of the multitude of first-hand accounts she spins a tapestry which is full of vivid detail and gradually creates a coherent whole. The horrors of the Hitler regime and how it came to power, and the suffering of ordinary people, are brought to life. The book is comprehensive, informative and full of life. I wish I could have read it before I first worked in post-war Germany. I would have understood better the Germans whom I knew and admired even more what West Germans achieved after 1945. A glorious read for anyone with an interest in the history of the twentieth century" - Sir Christopher Mallaby, former ambassador to Germany and France; "Unique, original and engagingly written. This account of visitors and tourists to Germany brings to life these difficult decades in a most refreshing way [and] should attract a wide circle of readers" - Dr Zare Steiner, author of The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933 and Triumph of the Dark: 1933-193; "An entertaining popular history ... a fascinating book. Boyd lets the voices from the past speak to us ... opinions that are sometimes shocking and often thought provoking. Traveller attitudes give an insight into the feelings before the war, often at odds with or in more depth than many standard histories ... very readable" - Paul Burke, nudge-book.comTable of ContentsContents; Introduction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1; Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11; 1 Open Wounds.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13; 2 Deepening Pain.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29; 3 Sex and Sun.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47; 4 `The Seething Brew'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67; 5 The Noose Tightens.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85; 6 Monster or Marvel?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103; 7 Summer Holidays.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123; 8 Festivals and Fanfares.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141; 9 Heiling Hitler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161; 10 Old Soldiers.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183; 11 Literary `Tourists'.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205; 12 Snow and Swastikas.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231; 13 Hitler's Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247; 14 Academic Wasteland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263; 15 Dubious Overtures.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285; 16 Travel Album.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305; 17 Anschluss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323; 18 `Peace' and Shattered Glass.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337; 19 Countdown to War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355; 20 War.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375; 21 Journey's End.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389; Afterword.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411; Acknowledgements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417; Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421; Archives Consulted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429; The Travellers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431; Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449; Index.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

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Book SynopsisBlackshirts & Reds explores some of the big issues of our time: fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology--terms often bandied about but seldom explored in the original and exciting way that has become Michael Parenti's trademark. Parenti shows how rational fascism renders service to capitalism, how corporate power undermines democracy, and how revolutions are a mass empowerment against the forces of exploitative privilege. He also maps out the external and internal forces that destroyed communism, and the disastrous impact of the free-market victory on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He affirms the relevance of taboo ideologies like Marxism, demonstrating the importance of class analysis in understanding political realities and dealing with the ongoing collision between ecology and global corporatism. Written with lucid and compelling style, this book goes beyond truncated modes of thought, inviting us to entertain iconoclastic views, and to ask

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Book Synopsis THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER The Nazis spared their lives because they were twins.In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz.Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.While twins at Auschwitz were granted the 'privileges' of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele's sadistic medical experiments. They were forced to fight daily for their own survival and many died as a result of the experiments, or from the disease and hunger rife in the concentration camp.In a narrative told simply, with emotion and astonishing restraint, The Twins of Auschwitz shares the inspirational story of a child's endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil.Also included is an epilogue on Eva's incredible recovery and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and worked toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.Trade ReviewEva Mozes Kor has written a very moving and vivid account of an extraordinary and horrific experience. It is an important document showing the strength of the human spirit and the capacity to forgive. She should be commended for having the courage to write about her traumatic childhood, leading to the forgiveness that freed her from hatred and brought her peace. May it inspire others to emulate her. -- Archbishop Desmond TutuThis remarkable story is an important entry point in the teaching of Holocaust History and the many issues which emerge from it, not least of all the triumph of the human spirit. -- Richard Freedman, National Director, South African Holocaust Foundation

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Book SynopsisSixty years after the defeat of the Third Reich, the complexities of Nazi ideology are still being unravelled. This enormously influential book has provided the first serious account of these ideological origins. The book demonstrates the way in which Nazism was influenced by powerful occult and millenarian sects that thrived in Germany and Austria at the turn of the century. These sects (principally the Ariosophists) promoted doctrines of popular nationalism, 'Aryan' racism and occultism to support their advocacy of German world-rule. Their ideas and symbols filtered through to nationalist-racist groups associated with the infant Nazi party, and in time exerted a strong influence on Himmler's SS. Their fantasies were played out with terrifying consequences in the Third Reich: Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka are the hellish museums of the Nazi apocalypse, the roots of which lay in the millennial visions of occult sects. This bizarre and fascinating story contains lessons we cannot afford to ignore.Trade ReviewGoodrick-Clarke's now classic work triumphantly demonstrates that scrupulous scholarship and sound judgement can illuminate a crucial episode in the genesis of Nazism. The political dangers of the new century posed by the mixture of modernity with faith and esoteric mysticism make it particularly timely. -- Professor Roger Griffin, author of The Nature of FacismAn extensive survey of...theology, astrology, and 'ariosophy' (Aryan-racists-occult-theories)... An intriguing study of apocalyptic fantasies... * Times Literary Supplement *If anyone still questions the power which myth exercises over the human mind, he should read The Occult Roots of Nazism. -- Anthony Storr, Fellow, Royal College of PsychiatristsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Illustrations Author's Preface to 2004 Edition Foreword Introduction Part 1: The Background 1. The Pan-German Vision 2. The modern German Occult Revival 1880-1910 Part 2: The Ariosophists of Vienna 3. Guido von List 4. Wotanism and Germanic Theosophy 5. The Armanenschaft 6. The Secret Heritage 7. The German Millennium 8. Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels and Theozoology 9. The Order of the New Templars Part 3: Ariosophy in Germany 10. The Germanenorden 11. Rudolf von Sebottendorff and the Thule Society 12. The Holy Runes and the Edda Society 13. Herbert Reichstein and Ariosophy 14. Karl Maria Wiligut: The Private Magus of Heinrich Himmler 15. Ariosophy and Adolf Hitler Appendix A: Genealogy of Lanz von Liebenfels Appendix B: Genealogy of the Sebottendorff Family Appendix C: The history of Ariosophy Appendix D: New Templar Verse Appendix E: The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism Notes and References Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFascism was the major political invention of the twentieth century and the source of much of its pain. How can we try to comprehend its allure and its horror? Is it a philosophy, a movement, an aesthetic experience? What makes states and nations become fascist?Acclaimed historian Robert O. Paxton shows that in order to understand fascism we must look at it in action - at what it did, as much as what it said it was about. He explores its falsehoods and common threads; the social and political base that allowed it to prosper; its leaders and internal struggles; how it manifested itself differently in each country - France, Britain, the low countries, Eastern Europe, even Latin America as well as Italy and Germany; how fascists viewed the Holocaust; and, finally, whether fascism is still possible in today''s world.Offering a bold new interpretation of the fascist phenomenon, this groundbreaking book will overturn our understanding of twentieth-century history.

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Book Synopsis**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**‘A sort of survival book, a sort of symptom-diagnosis manual in terms of losing your democracy and what tyranny and authoritarianism look like up close’ Rachel Maddow 'These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten' Observer History does not repeat, but it does instruct. In the twentieth century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised to protect them from global existential threats, and rejected reason in favour of myth. European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances. History can familiarise, and it can warn. Today, we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century. But when the political order seems imperilled, our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny. Now is a good time to do so.Trade ReviewThe most coherent manifesto on confronting Trump… powerful. -- Sarah Ditum * New Statesman *Snyder’s beautifully weighted book is the perfect clear-eyed antidote to [Trump's] deliberate philistinism … Always measured in their observation, these 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten … You will read no more relevant field guide to that wisdom than this book. -- Tim Adams * Observer *On Tyranny is a slim book that fits alongside your pocket constitution and feels only slightly less vital... Clarifying and unnerving… a memorable work that is grounded in history yet imbued with the fierce urgency of what now. -- Carlos Lozada * Washington Post *Following paths trodden by Hannah Arendt, Czeslaw Milosz and Václav Havel, Snyder has written a manifesto for surviving the political rampages of our time with our rights and freedoms intact… Snyder’s book is addressed to the American reader, but its message is broader. Read in Budapest or Warsaw, it will have an especial resonance … Slim and accessible, On Tyranny is a book to read quickly, ponder slowly and pass on -- Annabelle Chapman * Prospect *Urgent, indignant, winningly ragged in execution, On Tyranny is in the best tradition of polemical pamphlets. Timely agitprop, it offers some relief from Trump anxiety disorder. -- Lewis Jones * Daily Telegraph *A chilling description of how authoritarian mindsets work -- Hillary ClintonSteeped in the history of interwar Germany, Snyder writes with bracing immediacy about how to prevent, or at least forestall, the repression of lives and minds. * Washington Post *We are rapidly ripening for fascism. This American writer leaves us with no illusions about ourselves -- Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for LiteratureOn Tyranny will help you keep going for the next four years, or however long it takes. -- Masha GessenHe is undoubtedly a scholar of great distinction and authority… If more people follow Snyder’s injunctions to read newspapers, avoid falling for contrived online “scandals”, make friends across national boundaries and remember professional ethics then the world will indeed be a better place. -- Michael Gove * The Times *In an erudite yet accessibly manner, with brevity and precision, Snyder draws on his prodigious knowledge of 20th century despotism to present 20 sobering lessons for dealing with the Trump phenomenon -- Muhammad Idrees Ahmad * National *On Tyranny is [a] response to the rise of Donald Trump, although it is not, strictly speaking, about Trump, who is never mentioned by name. It is, rather, a primer in how to think historically -- Ken Early * The Irish Times *A slim volume more like a guide than a tome of historical scholarship, though Snyder drew on 25 years of research and writing -- Stav Ziv * Newsweek Europe *

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Book SynopsisOperation ''Berlin'', the Soviet offensive launched on 16 April, 1945, by Marshals Zhukov and Koniev, isolated the German Ninth Army and tens of thousands of refugees in the Spreewald ''pocket'', south-east of Berlin. Stalin ordered its encirclement and destruction and his subordinates, eager to win the race to the Reichstag, pushed General Busse''s 9th Army into a tiny area east of the village of Halbe. To escape the Spreewald pocket, the remnants of 9th Army had to pass through Halbe, where barricades constructed by both sides formed formidable obstacles and the converging Soviet forces subjected the area to heavy artillery fire. By the time 9th Army eventually escaped the Soviet pincers, it had suffered 40,000 killed and 60,000 taken prisoner. Teenaged refugees recount their experiences alongside Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS veterans attempting to maintain military discipline amid the chaos and carnage of headlong retreat. While army commanders strive to extricate their decimat

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Book SynopsisThe runaway #1 New York Times bestseller''A ripping read. . . . The parallels to the present day are strong, even startling'' New York Times''A chilling history lesson... Vivid, urgent, smart'' Washington PostAs Hitler''s ascendancy began to make a Second World War inevitable, a clandestine network flooded the United States with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of its war effort and persuading Americans that their natural alliance was with the Nazis.It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens'' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the US government and installing authoritarian rule. Some of the country''s most influential elected officials, including senators and members of Congress, worked to disseminate Nazi talking points, while fascist paramilitaries stockpiled bombs and weapons in preparation for violent insurrection.Prequel unearths the forgotten story of these insurrectionists, as well as the heroic efforts of the journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose their plot and bring them to justice. Deeply researched, the story of how the crisis was averted is also a deeply relevant tale for our own disquieting times.

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Book Synopsis''The feeling that the very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world ... this prospect frightens me much more than bombs''On the 70th anniversary of George Orwell''s death, a new collection of his brilliant essays written during the Second World WarFascism and Democracy collects five brilliant examples of Orwell''s writing during the darkest days of World War Two. Grappling with the principles of democracy and the potential of reform, the meaning of literature and free speech in times of violence, and the sustainability of objective truth, Orwell offers a compelling portrayal of a nation where norms and ideals can no longer be taken for granted. Like the best of Orwell''s writing, these essays also serve as timeless reminders of the fragility of freedom.

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Book SynopsisDescribes and illustrates the full range of Dutch resistance groups and German and collaborationist counter-resistance groups during the Nazi occupation in 1940-45.The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands was a complex, varied and bloody affair. Well- documented is the initial capture by the Gestapo of a secret Dutch Special Operations Executive radio-operator who thereafter lured several parachuted agents to their deaths, but, the actual scope and complexity of the occupation was much greater than this. Large-scale civil resistance against the occupation began as early as February 1941, and 1943 saw assassinations, reprisals, and the development of various resistance groups the LKP National Assault Teams and some ''wild'' armed groups: the left wing RzV and the conservative OD. In addition, several overlapping Dutch organizations amalgamated in September 1944 into the NBS: ''Netherlands Interior Forces''. In return, the Germans created the collaborationist Landwacht sTrade ReviewThe story of the country's occupation is not a subject widely covered and this book redresses that in a highly informative way that goes beyond what the reader may think they already know. -- John Norris * Gun Mart & Militaria Mart magazine *I found this taught me a lot that I had not known before, so a good value addition to your references, and with artwork which is likely to attract many modellers with the inspiration/reference of some less familiar uniforms to try. -- Robin Buckland * Military Model Scene *'An abundance of books has been written about resistance and collaboration in the Netherlands during the Second World War, but not too many of them in English. Klaas Castelein from Duiven and Michel Wenting from Doesburg did write about it in English.' 'We realized that most books about resistance and collaboration had been written in Dutch. As a result, foreigners cannot disclose any information about this, yet its history is incredibly fascinating.' Wenting and Castelein sketch a balanced view: 'In some parts of the country the Resistance seriously contributed to the liberation, but in other parts they got passionately engaged in exacting vengeance on Germans and collaborators'. -- Piet Venhuizen * De Gelderlander *Table of ContentsFASCISM IN THE PRE-WAR NETHERLANDS Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging (NSB, National Socialist Movement) Nationale Jeugdstorm (NJS, National Youth Force) Nationaal-Socialistische Nederlandse Arbeiderspartij (NSNAP, National Socialist Netherlands Workers’ Party) Zwart Front (ZF, Black Front) and Nationaal Front (NF, National Front) Grauwe Vendels (GV, Grey Banners) THE MILITARY OCCUPATION, 1940–45 THE SECURITY APPARATUS General Commission for Security Local security forces: Nazification of the Dutch police Wachtmannen (Watchmen) Kontroll-Kommando (KK, Control Guard) Nederlandse Landwacht (LW, Home Guard) Landstorm Nederland (LSN, Territorial Defence Force) GROWTH OF THE RESISTANCE, 1940–44 Continuing the fight from Great Britain The ‘England Game’ Emergence of the first resistance movements: Communistische Partij Nederland (CPN, Netherlands Communist Party) Geuzen (‘Beggars’) Ordedienst (OD, Order Service) CS-6 Raad van Verzet (RVV, Resistance Council) Three women RVV fighters Landelijke Organisatie voor Hulp aan Onderduikers (LO, National Organizationfor Help to People in Hiding) The decisive general strike, April–May 1943 Landelijke Knokploegen (LKP, National Assault Teams) Prison raids OPEN WARFARE, FROM SEPTEMBER 1944 ALLIED LIBERATION OPERATIONS, 1944–45 GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book SynopsisHanna Reitsch longed to fly. Having broken records and earned the respect of the Nazi regime, she was the first female Luftwaffe test pilot, and eventually became Adolf Hitler’s personal heroine.An ardent Nazi, Hanna was prepared to die for the cause, first as a test pilot for the dangerous V1 flying bombs and later by volunteering for a suggested Nazi ‘kamikaze’ squadron. After her capture she complained bitterly of not being able to die with her leader, but she went on to have a celebrated post-war flying career. She died at the age of 67, creating a new mystery – did Hanna kill herself using the cyanide pill Hitler had given her over thirty years earlier? Hitler’s Heroine reveals new facts about the mysterious pilot and cuts through the many myths that have surrounded her life and death, bringing this fascinating woman back to life for the twenty-first century.

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Book SynopsisPRE-ORDER PRECIPICE, THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, NOW - PUBLISHING AUGUST 2024Now a major Netflix film starring Jeremy Irons_________________________MUNICH, SEPTEMBER 1938Hitler is determined to start a war. Chamberlain is desperate to preserve the peace.They will meet in a city which forever afterwards will be notorious for what is about to take place.As Chamberlain's plane judders over the channel and the Fuhrer's train steams south, two young men travel with their leaders. Former friends from a more peaceful time, they are now on opposing sides.As Britain's darkest hour approaches, the fate of millions could depend on them - and the secrets they're hiding.Spying. Betrayal. Murder. Is any price too high for peace?_________________________'A brilliantly constructed spy novel' Observer'Grips from start to finish ... Superb' Mail on Sunday_________________________Now available: V2, Robert Harris's latest historical thrillerAct of Oblivion, Sunday Times bestseller, June 2023Trade ReviewGrips from start to finish . . . Munich captures the mood of the times: the suspicion and the fear, the political intrigue, the swagger of the Nazi machine and the widespread elation at the mistaken belief that war has been averted. Superb. * Mail on Sunday *Harris’s cleverness, judgment and eye for detail are second to none . . . his research is so impeccable that he could have cut all the spy stuff and published Munich as a history book. Harris’s treatment of Britain’s most maligned prime minister is so powerful, so persuasive, that it ranks among the most moving fictional portraits of a politician that I have ever read * Sunday Times *An intelligent thriller . . . with exacting attention to historical detail * The Times, BOOKS OF THE YEAR *A gripping account of the negotiations between Britain and Germany in 1938 before the outbreak of war * Guardian *Atmospheric and fast-paced literary thriller . . . [it] grips from start to finish . . . Superb * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisIn July 1940, Walter Schellenberg of the German Secret Service drew up a list of 2,694 people believed to be living in Britain, who were known enemies of the Reich. In that month, the Wehrmacht was poised across the Channel ready to hit Britain with blitzkrieg, the terrible and hugely successful tactic that had already overwhelmed Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. The names on Schellenberg's list represent the heart and soul of a nation that made the British what they were but the list also includes a diaspora from Europe - the intellectuals, politicians and writers who had been driven out of their own homelands by the speed of the German conquests. All human life is there - lives that were, to the Nazis, unworthy of life.Historians have found the list a curiosity. Surely, it cannot be real? It was. The Black Book is the first book to evaluate the list, and look at the chilling reality of what Hitler had in store for the nation.

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Book Synopsis*A TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR*WHAT CAUSED THE FALL OF THE MOST PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY EUROPE, AND THE RISE OF THE MOST TERRIFYING?In the 1930s, Germany was at a turning point, with many looking to the Nazi phenomenon as part of widespread resentment towards cosmopolitan liberal democracy and capitalism. This was a global situation that pushed Germany to embrace authoritarianism, nationalism and economic self-sufficiency, kick-starting a revolution founded on new media technologies, and the formidable political and self-promotional skills of its leader.Based on award-winning research and recently discovered archival material, The Death of Democracy is a panoramic new survey of one of the most important periods in modern history, and a book with a resounding message for the world today.'Extremely fine... with careful prose and scholarship, he brings these events close to us.' Timothy Snyder, The New York Times'Intelligent, well-informed... intriguing.' The Times'With the injection of fresh contemporary voices, The Death of Democracy is also a thoughtful reflection of how our time more resembles the Thirties than the Noughties.' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewExtremely fine... with careful prose and scholarship, with fine thumbnail sketches of individuals and concise discussions of institutions and economics, he brings these events close to us. Hett... sensitively describes a moral crisis that preceded a moral catastrophe. -- Timothy Snyder * The New York Times *Intelligent, well-informed... intriguing. Hett provides a lesson about the fragility of democracy and the danger of that complacent belief that liberal institutions will always protect us. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Readable and well-researched, with the injection of fresh contemporary voices, The Death of Democracy is also a thoughtful reflection of how our time more resembles the Thirties than the Noughties. * Daily Telegraph *Benjamin Carter Hett deftly summarises this dismal period... Hett refrains from poking the reader with too many obvious contemporary parallels, but he knew what he was doing when he left "German" out of his title. On the book's final page, he lays his cards on the table... "Suddenly, the whole thing looks close and familiar." Yes, it does. -- Alex Ross * New Yorker *A superb explanation of how democracy died in Weimar Germany. Too much of this story seems painfully familiar today. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times, 'Books of the Year' *

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Book SynopsisNow available in a single, abridged paperback, Ian Kershaw''s Hitler is the definitive biography of the Nazi leader. Ian Kershaw''s two volume biography, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris and Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, was greeted with universal acclaim as the essential work on one of the most malign figures in history, from his earliest origins to the final days of the Second World War. Now this landmark historical work is available in one single, abridged edition, tracing the story of how a bitter, failed art student from an obscure corner of Austria rose to unparalleled power, destroying the lives of millions and bringing the world to the brink of Armageddon. ''Supersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write''  David Cannadine, Observer ''The Hitler biography for the twenty-first century''  Richard Evans, Sunday Telegraph ''I cannot imagine a better biography of this great tyrant emerging for a long while''  Jeremy Paxman ''Magisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the Third Reich must read Kershaw, for no one has done more to lay bare Hitler''s morbid psyche''  Niall Ferguson, Sunday Telegraph ''For the present generation, Kershaw''s Hitler stands out as a clear beacon of truth, illuminating a dark age of terror and mendacity''  Mail on Sund ''An achievement of the very highest order''  Michael Burleigh, Financial Times Ian Kershaw (b. 1943) was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield from 1989-2008, and is one of the world''s leading authorities on Hitler. His books include The ''Hitler Myth'', his two volume biography Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris and Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, and Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941. He was knighted in 2002.Trade ReviewSupersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write -- David Cannadine * Observer *The Hitler biography for the twenty-first century -- Richard Evans * Sunday Telegraph *I cannot imagine a better biography of this great tyrant emerging for a long while -- Jeremy PaxmanMagisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the Third Reich must read Kershaw, for no one has done more to lay bare Hitler's morbid psyche -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Telegraph *For the present generation, Kershaw's Hitler stands out as a clear beacon of truth, illuminating a dark age of terror and mendacity -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *The definitive biography of the Führer -- Juliet Gardiner * Sunday Times *An achievement of the very highest order -- Michael Burleigh * Financial Times *Mesmerizing ... presents the twentieth century's most controversial life in a single sweep -- Michael Kerrigan * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisThe divisions of the Waffen-SS were among the elite of Hitler's armies in the Second World War. But alongside the Germans in the Waffen-SS fought an astonishingly high number of volunteers from other countries. By the end of the Second World War these foreign volunteers comprised half of all Hitler's Waffen-SS, and filled the ranks of over twenty-four of the nominal thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions. So during the most brutal war that mankind has ever known, hundreds of thousands of men flocked to fight for a country that was not theirs, and for a cause that was one of the most monstrous and barbaric in history. Who were these men, and why did they fight? Hitler's Gauls is an in-depth examination of one of these legions of foreign volunteers, the Charlemagne division, who were recruited entirely from conquered France. The men in Charlemagne, often motivated by an extreme anti-communist zeal, fought hard on the Eastern Front including battles of near annihilation in the snows of Pomerani

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Book SynopsisJack Fairweather is an award-winning and bestselling British writer and journalist. His last book The Volunteer won the Costa Book Prize and was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller, hailed as a modern classic and compared to Schindler's List. He splits his time between the UK and Vermont.

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Book SynopsisA provocative take on Jewish history, explaining the metamorphoses of mainstream Jewish culture and politicsTrade Review'Enzo Traverso is without doubt the most gifted historian of his generation. His book on Jewish modernity is, as all his writings, a unique combination of radical commitment and brilliant scholarship' -- Michael Löwy, Emeritus Research Director in Social Sciences at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris), and author of On Changing the World: Essays in Political Philosophy from Karl Marx to Walter Benjamin'Imaginative and provocative ... a nuanced and intelligent treatise' -- Benjamin Ramm, Jewish Quarterly'Stimulating' -- Times Literary Supplement'Exciting and delightful ... this slim volume manages to deliver a comprehensive statement which makes a significant contribution to the discourses of politics, postmodern theory and intellectual history' -- The Muslim World Book ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. What Was Jewish Modernity? 2. Cosmopolitanism, Mobility and Diaspora 3. Intellectuals between Critique and Power 4. Between Two Epochs: Jewishness and Politics in Hannah Arendt 5. Metamorphoses: From Judeophobia to Islamophobia 6. Zionism: Return to the Ethnos 7. Memory: The Civil Religion of the Holocaust Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisIn October 1998, the erstwhile Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London, charged with crimes against humanity by a Spanish magistrate. But over the 16 months that Pinochet was detained, intriguing questions went unanswered about his close ties with Britain. Why was Lady Thatcher so keen to defend the General? And why was Tony Blair''s usually cautious government prepared to have him arrested? As Andy Beckett uncovers, the answers reside deep within the long and shadowy history of relations between Britain and Chile.''An outstanding achievement, and mesmerically readable . . . Beckett has surely written one of the best political travelogues of the year.'' Sunday Times''I am stirred and astonished at [Andy Beckett''s] brilliance, and by the imaginative sympathy with which he rekindles the arguments and emotions of a period he never knew.'' Christopher Hitchens, London Review of Books

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Book SynopsisOne thing above all separated the radical students who demonstrated on the streets of West Berlin and Frankfurt in 1968 from their counterparts in Berkeley or New York. In the US, the baby boomers grew up in the shadow of what Tom Brokaw called the greatest generation. In its place, Germany had the so-called Auschwitz generation. What became known in Germany as the '68 generation' or just the Achtundsechziger had grown up knowing that their mothers and fathers were directly or indirectly responsible for Nazism and in particular for the Holocaust. Germany's 1968 generation did not merely dream of a better world as some of their contemporaries in other countries did; they felt compelled to act to save Germany from itself. It was an all-or-nothing choice: Utopia or Auschwitz. Kundnani shows that the struggle of Germany's '68 generation also had a darker side. Although the 'Achtundsechziger' imagined their struggle against capitalism in West Germany as 'resistance' against Nazism, they also had a tendency to see Auschwitz everywhere and, by using images and metaphors connected with Nazism to describe events in other parts of the world, they relativized Nazism and in particular the Holocaust. Even more disturbingly, despite the anti-fascist rhetoric of the 'Achtundsechziger', there were also anti-Semitic and nationalist currents in the West German New Left that grew out of the student movement. "Utopia or Auschwitz" traces the political journey of Germany's post-war generation and examines the influence that its ambivalent attitude to the Nazi past had on the foreign policy of the 'red-green' government between 1998 and 2005, which included several former members of the student movement like Joschka Fischer. The red-green government's schizophrenic foreign policy, manifested its response to the crises in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, reflected the 1968 generation's ambivalent attitude to the Nazi past.Trade Review'Utopia or Auschwitz is an enlightening read for anyone interested not just in left-wing extremism, but in European politics more generally. Kundnani - combines a broad historical sweep with a journalist's eye for a human story. If last year's film 'The Baader Meinhof Complex' was accused of glamorising the radicals, then this book does something far more daring: it takes their ideas seriously.' * The Observer *'Hans Kundnani's superb chronicle of mainly West German politics over the past 50 years shows the country's remarkable transformation since the war - from a land of Hitlermenschen to that of model Europeans - You may find it galling, but there is a story here, not told before, about a straightened-out social left that might also triumph elsewhere. Kundnani tells this tale lucidly.' * New Statesman *'Utopia or Auschwitz is a timely publication. The success of The Baader Meinhof Complex film, together with a broader resurgence of interest in Left-wing radical groupings of the Sixties and Seventies, has created an appetite for such exemplary syntheses of high-end political journalism and academic scholarship. It's a narrative that, given the comparative sturdiness of the German economy in the face of global recession, Kundnani might easily have portrayed in triumphalist terms. Instead, he points out that Joschka Fischer, photographed attacking a policeman in Frankfurt in 1974, has recently been inveighing against the state of emergency created by a new terror movement: radical Islam.' * The Telegraph *'A lucid and fascinating exposition of the intellectual history of the 1968 generation of the German left, a book that shows, contrary to Engels' assertion, that ideas can have primacy, and that - in certain circumstances - an ounce of theory can move a ton of action.' * Prospect *'one could hardly hope for a better guide than Hans Kundnani, an independent journalist based in London whose excellent book reconstructs the political agonies of the German Left from the sixties to the present day. Unlike Uli Edel's film ['The Baader Meinhof Complex'] (which was inspired by Stefan Aust's recent book of the same title), Kundnani does not indulge in dramaturgy, nor does he omit the worst parts. The detail is extraordinary, the tempo deliberate, the moral analysis unsparing. Kundnani wants us to see the idealism of the Achtundsechziger, the '68ers,' but also their depravity.' * The New Republic *'The remarkable strength of this book concerns its compact and detailed history of Germany's 1968 generation. The book fulfils the typical functions of a felicitous introduction to a complex issue: compact, well-informed and exceedingly readable.' * Critical Studies on Terrorism *

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Book Synopsis“One of the most important works of history of our time.” —The New York Times The fiftieth anniversary edition of the National Book Award-winning bestseller that is the definitive study of Adolf Hitler, the rise of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and World War II. This special edition features a new introduction by Ron Rosenbaum, author of Explaining Hitler and How the End Begins.No other powerful empire ever bequeathed such mountains of evidence about its birth and destruction as the Third Reich. When the bitter war was over, and before the Nazis could destroy their files, the Allied demand for unconditional surrender produced an almost hour-by-hour record of the nightmare empire built by Adolph Hitler. This record included the testimony of Nazi leaders and of concentration camp inmates, the diaries of officials, transcripts of secret conferences, army orders, private letters—all the vast paperwork behind Hitler''

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Book SynopsisOnce war broke out in September 1930 the Nazi Party newspaper, Völkischer Beobachter, sent its first representative to London. Soon afterwards, German residents in London established an Ortsgruppe, or local Nazi group, which provided Party members with a place to congregate and support the new movement. By 1933, more than 100 members belonged to the London group. The Nazis in pre-war London created a dilemma for the Foreign Office and the Home Office, who were divided as to how best to treat residents whose allegiance was to the German Reich. Some felt that all Nazi organizations should be banned, and Party Members should not be allowed to enter the UK. Others, including MI5, argued that it would be easier to keep track of Nazis if they were in-country. Previously unpublished German documents reveal the fate of German diplomats, journalists, and professionals, many of whom were interned in Britain or deported to Nazi Germany once war broke out on 3 September 1939. Nazis in Pre-War London is the first book to study the history of the Nazis in Britain. An Appendix lists the details concerning the nearly 400 German Party members, as well as Nazi journalists, who spent time in Britain prior to the war.Trade Review"James and Patience Barnes have engaged in some detailed detective work to uncover one of the least known and most intriguing aspects of the history of Nazism. Their study provides a fascinating insight into the previously overlooked but highly significant story of Nazi overseas operations. Neither the history of London nor the history of Nazism will look quite the same again." -- Professor Dan Stone, Royal Holloway, University of London, author of The Historiography of the Holocaust and Responses to Nazism in Britain 1933-1939: Before War and Holocaust."This study presents a great deal of valuable research on German National Socialists living in Britain, mainly London, during the 1930s, and looks at the question of Anglo-German relations from a number of interesting yet hitherto largely neglected perspectives...on offer is an almost encyclopaedic account of the individuals involved, including, where possible, their personal histories, a chronicle of events, and the scandals, incidents and intrigues that inevitably figure in such a tale of 'enemies within." Julie V. Gottlieb, University of Sheffield, European History Quarterly, 39.2

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Book SynopsisThis Very Short Introduction offers a powerfully-written explanation of the war''s complex origins and course, and explores its impact on a personal and international scale. It also provides an ethical reflection on the war in the context of Europe''s tumultuous twentieth century, highlighting why it has inspired some of the greatest writers of our time, and how it continues to resonate today in Britain, continental Europe, and beyond. Throughout the book, the focus is on the war as an arena of social change where ideas about culture were forged or resisted, and in which both Spaniards and non-Spaniards participated alike. These were conflicts that during the Second World War would stretch from Franco''s regime, which envisaged itself as part of the Nazi new order, to Europe and beyond. Accordingly, this book examines Spanish participation in European resistance movements during World War II and also the ongoing civil war waged politically, economically, judicially and culturally inside Spain by Francoism after its military victory in 1939. History writing itself became a battleground and the book charts the Franco regime''s attempt to appropriate the past. It also indicates its ultimate failure - as evident in new writings on the war and, above all, in the return of Republican memory now occurring in Spain during the opening years of the twenty-first century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewProvocative and illuminating in equal measure, every sentence...is packed with thought and meaning. * Paul Preston, BBC History Magazine. *Small but impressive * Soldier Magazine *Table of ContentsPREFACE

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Book SynopsisWelsh miners made up one of the largest contingents within the British Battalion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Coming from the valleys all across South Wales, they brought with them a political tradition unique in Britain in its combination of trade union militancy, radical extra-parliamentary activity and internationalism. Hywel Francis draws on a wide variety of contemporary sources to paint a vivid picture of the tumultuous politics of South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s - the context for the decision made by so many to volunteer. The book describes the process of volunteering, the militant role played by the Welsh volunteers, and the mass movements of political solidarity with Spain within Wales. It also includes many illustrations, and reproduces letters written by volunteers to their relatives and friends back in Wales. This updated 2012 edition includes a new preface and a newly compiled complete list of all Welsh volunteers.Trade Review'A fascinating study - pays homage to Cambria rather than Catalonia, and memorably so' Kenneth O Morgan, TLS 'Succeeds brilliantly in restoring the humanity of his true subjects, the volunteers - men formed by their time and place who consciously chose to express their commitment to a cause in the bravest way possible.' Dai Smith, Guardian

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] fine and undoubtedly enduring study. This affinity of Leninism with Nazism is the argument of Tismaneanu’s book. It is a claim that since 1945, and particularly the Cold War, has generated much controversy. A distinguished book." -- William Pfaff, * New York Review of Books *“This volume achieves the rare distinction of being at once nuanced and impassioned. It is likely to remain a durable contribution to a deeper understanding of the great historical outrages of the past century which were closely linked to the concept and reality of totalitarianism.” -- Paul Hollander, * New Criterion *“An ambitious and challenging rereading of twentieth-century history.” * Times Literary Supplement *“The parallels between communism and fascism have often been noted, fueling endless debates over whether the movements were fundamentally similar or different. The Devil in History . . . presents a genuinely fresh perspective on this topic.” * Foreign Affairs *"A fascinating, brilliant and captivating book. It is a stupendous achievement." * FrontPage Magazine *"The book offers a fascinating read with an incredible wealth of bibliographic sources that will benefit all those interested in the topic. The author has succeeded in giving not only a solid account of the spirituality and history of communist and fascist regimes, but also an outstanding testimony of liberal political and normative thinking." * Cambridge Review of International Affairs *"Vladimir Tismaneanu is the perfect political analyst for today, for he is an expert on both the legacies of Nazism and Communism. In spite of optimistic diagnoses and rampant wishful thinking, these two pathologies are not dead. Vladimir Tismaneanu’s illuminating book is an antidote against new experiments in utopian radicalism and social engineering." * WND *"Many books have been written about the similarities and differences between communism and fascism, both in theory and practice. None, however, matches the insight, analysis, and deep thought found in The Devil in History." * Weekly Standard *"The account provided is particularly strong on separating the critical paradigms of Marxism that emerged in East and West. . . . Getting the record straight here is important and challenges any simplistic notion of Eastern Europe’s conversion to liberalism." * American Historical Review *"Tismaneanu seeks to fulfill the ancient Jewish commandment of remembering and reminding, zachor, lest we forget and it may return. . . . [the book] argues convincingly that a reckoning with the past can be both exorcism and therapy, and insists that there should be no silence or thick line separating the present from the embarrassing past." * Perspectives on Politics *"A fine book" * National Review *“At a time when liberal values are showing their frailty and salvationist mythologies are returning to favour in different places, an absorbing comparative essay is provided on the origins, ravages and ultimate failure of the radical totalitarian movements of the last century: communism and fascism. Vladimir Tismaneanu is an appropriate guide, a polymath steeped in the philosophical, literary and social science texts spawned by defenders, apostates and analysts of this phenomenon.” * International Affairs *“Tismaneanu's real concern is to examine what he calls the ‘maximalist utopian aspirations’ expressed by communist and fascist regimes in Europe to try to understand how it is that systems that set out with a utopian agenda—world revolution or national rebirth—end up constructing murderous dystopias. . . . The core of this perceptive and intelligent analysis is addressed to the more troubling question of how they were possible at all.” * Times Higher Education *“Tismaneanu’s lucid narrative walks us through an intellectual landscape that traces the trajectory of totalitarian thinking back to its origins. . . . a chilling analysis of a century where mankind aimed to reach the promised land through the power of ideas. It shows that thinking of politics as a simple scientific formula that could be solved, once it was followed to its logical conclusion, seriously underestimates the complexities of the human condition.” * Daily Beast *“Mr. Tismaneanu has produced a definitive account of the origins, the appeal, the doctrinal foundations and the political technology of history's two bloodiest political faiths, which, unlike other tyrannies, sought not only to control politics and the economy but to establish permanent state ownership of truth and morality. . . . A powerful indictment of the twin 'utopias in power,' as well as a paean to those who resisted them, this profound and rich book is also a cautionary tale.” * Wall Street Journal *Table of ContentsForeword Prologue: Totalitarian Dictators and Ideological Hubris 1. Utopian Radicalism and Dehumanization 2. Diabolical Pedagogy and the (Il)logic of Stalinism 3. Lenin's Century: Bolshevism, Marxism, and the Russian Tradition 4. Dialectics of Disenchantment: Marxism and Ideological Decay in Leninist Regimes 5. Ideology, Utopia, and Truth: Lessons from Eastern Europe 6. Malaise and Resentment: Threats to Democracy in Post-Communist Societies Conclusions Notes Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisFederico Finchelstein draws on a striking combination of thinkers—Jorge Luis Borges, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Schmitt—to consider fascism as a form of political mythmaking. At a moment when forces redolent of fascism cast a shadow over world affairs, this book provides a timely critical analysis of the dangers of myth in modern politics.Trade ReviewScratching the skin of second nature we find the basic animal instinct that seals the unity of the horde—this is the primordial face of fascism. In this timely and needed book, Federico Finchelstein brings to surface through a compelling study of myth in politics the psycho-aesthetical forging of the ideology of fascism, something we believed buried forever under the butchery of extermination camps and politics as celebration of violence. -- Nadia Urbinati, author of Me The People: How Populism Transforms DemocracyFederico Finchelstein reinterprets the relationship between fascism and myth through different but extremely interesting perspectives: Freud’s psychoanalysis, Borges’s literature, and Schmitt’s political theory. Solidly documented, conceptually innovative and elegantly written, this book is a gem of intellectual history. -- Enzo Traverso, author of Left-Wing Melancholia: Marxism, History, and MemoryFinchelstein's book on Borges, Freud, and Schmitt provides insightful analyses of these three significant figures in the history of modern thought. His valuable focus is the bearing of their work on the approach of fascism to such crucial problems as mythology, ideology, power, leadership, death, and violence—problems that unfortunately are pertinent not only to their time but to our own as well. -- Dominick LaCapra, author of Understanding Others: Peoples, Animals, PastsFinchelstein's excellent new book explores a word we might take for granted: mythology. This word links politics with religion and with literature. Thanks to Fascist Mythologies, readers will appreciate the importance, the 'sacredness' we can sense in the pre-fascist use of the term, meaning the autonomy of a narrative imagination beyond material experience. Bringing creative writer Jorge Luis Borges into the critique of fascism, to accompany political theorists and psychoanalysts, adds a liberatory dimension to thinking about the social pathology of fascism and a possible route for therapy. It is to safeguard and to cultivate the practice of creative thinking, to recognize that it shouldn't flatten into representing the 'real' as the fascists had done. The arts can again become a laboratory for thinking beyond what exists, and resisting immediate appropriations of new narratives. Literature can again stimulate critical thinking. And Federico Finchelstein's book is an important stimulus to get us working in this critical and imaginative direction. -- Doris Sommer, author of The Work of Art in the World: Civic Agency and Public HumanitiesIn Fascist Mythologies, Finchelstein brings together three very different authors: the father of psychoanalysis, the greatest Latin American writer, and the legal scholar who became the Nazi ideologue. Yet, as each one of them is analyzed, we begin to see how power and myth are inextricably related in fascism. -- María Pía Lara, author of The Disclosure of Politics: Struggles Over the Semantics of SecularizationTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. Freud, Fascism, and the Return of the Myth2. Borges and Fascism as Mythology3. Borges and the Persistence of Myth4. A Fascist History: Carl Schmitt’s Political Theory of MythConclusionAcknowledgementsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“[Kimmel] believes that gender, specifically masculinity, is both ‘the psychological inspiration’ that sends young men into these groups “and the social glue that keeps them involved.’ If true — and Kimmel makes a compelling case that it is — that could be good news for rehabilitation, because it is much easier to challenge violent extremism by engaging these young men as men, instead of trying to convince them that an ideology they may have embraced is flawed.” -- Dina Temple-Raston * The Washington Post *"Provides crucial understanding and context for anyone working with clients whose family members or who themselves have become involved with, or are seeking to separate from, an extremist group." * Psychotherapy Network *"Important and moving . . . . In Healing from Hate, an illuminating book building on over twenty years of thinking and research, Michael Kimmel shows that the boy crisis provides fertile ground for recruiters from white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and other extremist groups." * New York Review of Books *"Kimmel´s book is a true a page turner, presenting the very newest perspective on gender within extremism studies. In fact, he goes beyond extremism, masculinity and gender issues. He brings much wide cultural nuances, trajectory of EXIT foundations, economics, far-right politics, globalization and above all the effects of far-right politics which affects the very core of construction of young masculinities in the global North. This book undoubtedly opens a new chapter in the study of extremism, and it will certainly be the beginning of new issues between extremist groups and the studies of masculinity." * Masculinities & Social Change *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments 1. Getting In and Getting Out: A Gendered Political Psychology of Extremism MATTHIAS: INTERGENERATIONAL NEO-NAZI 2. Germany: Anti-Semitism without Jews JACKIE: THE "MOST HATED MAN" IN SWEDEN 3. Sweden: Entry and EXIT FRANKIE: "BORN TO BE WILD" 4. United States: Life after Hate with “Life After Hate” MUBIN: UNDERCOVER JIHADIST 5. Britain: The Ex-jihadists Next Door Epilogue: “Redemption Song” Notes Index Contents

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Book SynopsisDeath was our companion

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Book SynopsisThis new edition revisits the renowned historian George L. Mosse's landmark work exploring the ideological foundations of Nazism in Germany. First published in 1964, this volume was among the first to examine the intellectual origins of the Third Reich.Trade ReviewA milestone in the study of National Socialism. . . . Indispensable for any serious student of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe." - New York Review of Books"Mosse takes us back to a vital undercurrent of the German mind. . . . A major contribution to scholarship." - American Historical Review"A disturbing but necessary book." - Catholic Historical Review

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The historiography rests on three basic assumptions, all of which are usefully questioned in Federico Finchelstein’s From Fascism to Populism in History. One is that fascism not only originated in Europe but was primarily a European phenomenon. Another is that it was historically specific to those interwar years. The third: that fascism involved a repudiation of democracy, a kind of pathology of political development. . . . An expert on the modern history of Argentina, Finchelstein reminds us that the second world war marked a turning point. Before it, fascists were filled with confidence: they wrote off democracy as an outmoded relic of the 19th century, and claimed fascism as the future. . . . ” * Financial Times *"Is Trump fascist? A proto-fascist? Fascist-curious? In his thoughtful new book, From Fascism to Populism in History, New School historian Federico Finchelstein concedes that Trump’s campaign 'had clear fascist and racist undertones,' and he cites the 'fascist pedigree' of Trump’s 'America first' slogan." * The Washington Post *"From Fascism to Populism in History serves the important purpose of reminding us that populism was in evidence throughout the twentieth century, especially in Latin America, and thus is a global phenomenon of long standing." * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *"Federico Finchelstein defies this overcrowded field and presents a historical account of the roots of populism that offers a fresh take on what has become common understanding in the fields of history, sociology, and political science. ... essential for students of contemporary politics, political ideologies and political sociology." * Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology *"A timely and commendable analysis." * The Quarterly Review *"What happened to us?—a very Argentine historiographical question—seems to be the underlying motivation for current American concerns with populism. Finchelstein contributes to this a passionate global perspective and a cosmopolitan sense of civic engagement. From Fascism to Populism weaves together historiographies and theories that are not often in conversation with each other. . . . This is, thus, a provocative, important, and also at times exasperating book, destined to inspire new histories and fire up many heated debates. Passion endows Finchelstein’s narrative with clairvoyance and urgency." * American Historical Review *"Finchelstein combines original research on many countries with a superb synthesis and critical examination of the literature on fascism and populism. A short review cannot do justice to his provocative insights. . . . Timely and fascinating." * Hispanic American Historical Review *"Federico Finchelstein offers what sounds like a timely clarification of political nomenclature with From Fascism to Populism in History, which argues that, despite belonging to ‘the same history and [being] often conflated, fascism and populism actually represent distinct political and historical trajectories.’” * Inside Higher Education *Table of ContentsPreface to the Paperback Edition Prologue Introduction: Thinking through Fascism and Populism in Terms of the Past 1. What Is Fascism in History? 2. What Is Populism in History? 3. Populism between Democracy and Dictatorship Epilogue: Populism Recharged Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe time of Nazi dictatorship in Germany (1933-45) consistently stimulates more interest than any other period of human history, as witnessed by the countless books and other media on Adolf Hitler and his leading henchmen. What is the basis for this enduring fascination? And, does the abundance of available material help us truly to understand the phenomenon? In this clear-sighted study, Tautz concludes that there is an existential need for the human psyche to come to terms with the forces of destruction that broke out during the era of National Socialism. In an attempt to get to the essence of the phenomenon, he employs the method of 'historical symtomatology', as developed by the philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner. Through these means, '...the historical process is perceived as the physiognomic expression of spiritual forces'. By viewing events as symptoms, the outer facts become transparent to the hidden influences that lie behind them, and occult aspects are revealed. Tautz focuses on the degenerate elements that inspired National Socialism - their meaning, nature and methods - and examines their manifestation in earthly events. He reveals the spiritual context in which these adversary, opposing forces erupted and attacked humanity - at a time when human consciousness had stepped over a new threshold. The Nazi functionaries and their spectral leader, whom he refers to as 'the Medium', willingly served these powers, whilst the bedazzled masses were largely passive. If we are serious about developing an egalitarian society today that corresponds to the present level of human evolution, he argues, we need to understand this period of tyranny in Germany at the deepest levels. In addition to Tautz's classic text, a new Appendix by Andreas Bracher brings the reader up to date with a survey of relevant literature on the theme as well as an insightful review of the Nazis' attitude to Rudolf Steiner and the anthroposophical movement he founded. Contemporary extracts from the Volkische Beobachter (the Nazi's house journal) indicate the viciousness and hatred directed towards Steiner and anthroposophy by the National Socialists.

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Book SynopsisBased on extensive archival work, Stormtrooper Families combines stormtrooper personnel records, Nazi Party autobiographies, published and unpublished memoirs, personal letters, court records, and police-surveillance records to paint a picture of the stormtrooper movement as an organic product of its local community, its web of interpersonal relationships, and its intensely emotional internal struggles. Extensive analysis of Nazi-era media across the political spectrum shows how the public debate over homosexuality proved just as important to political outcomes as did the actual presence of homosexuals in fascist and antifascist politics. As children in the late-imperial period, the stormtroopers witnessed the first German debates over homosexuality and political life. As young adults, they verbally and physically battled over these definitions, bringing conflicts over homosexuality and masculinity into the center of Weimar Germany's most important political debates. Stormtrooper Families chronicles the stormtroopers' personal, political, and sexual struggles to explain not only how individual gay men existed within the Nazi movement but also how the public meaning of homosexuality affected fascist and antifascist politics-a public controversy still alive today.Trade ReviewDetailed, well informed, and highly readable-an important and most welcome contribution to the still relatively small number of SA histories, and Wackerfuss has undertaken a huge amount of research into local primary sources. -- Daniel Siemens, University College London A fascinating picture of the private lives of the SA, both as individuals and in their close-knit groups. Many studies concentrate on the SA leadership and its trials and tribulations, but Wackerfuss shines a light on individual units, which were by no means a united front but sometimes fraught with infighting. Beyond that, he peers into the life and minds of individual SA men to see what motivated them to join this violent organization and how it became instrumental in winning support for Adolf Hitler. -- Geoffrey Giles, University of Florida Stormtrooper Families is a much needed addition to the vast collection of books on the Third Reich and its history. Books by Meri Stormtrooper Families offers a much-needed historical reckoning... bringing lucid scholarship to a neglected area in the history of the Nazi regime. -- Karl Wolff New York Journal of Books It is a rare achievement indeed to tell us something new about Nazism. Through its in-depth exploration of 'everyday' life within Hamburg's Sturmabteiling (SA), the Nazi Party's paramilitary group, Andrew Wackerfuss' rich and readable book does just that. -- Victoria Harris Times Higher Education A fascinating study of a history that many textbooks have ignored. -- Darrell Scheidegger Jr. Outword A fascinating, well-researched and well-written book, this one is a keeper. -- Angel Curtis OutSmart A very readable history of the Sturmabteilung (SA), or stormtroopers, one of the earliest wings of Nazism... Highly recommended. Choice Wackerfuss brings a very perceptive eye to his subject... Academic readers will find his contribution to our knowledge of the SA, and especially his perceptive analysis of the psychology of some of its members, immensely useful, while more casual readers will surely find his account, quite simply, very enjoyable to read. -- Alex Burkhardt H-German Wackerfuss provides a welcome addition to our understanding of the early SA movement, and a thoughtful commentary on postwar notions of Nazi sexuality and homoeroticism. -- Tiia Sahrakorpi German History Stormtrooper Families reveals intimate details about the lives of the men who served in the famously cliquish, violent, and chaotic German military unit known as Sturmabteilung (a.k.a. "SA" or "Stormtroopers"). -- Jacob Anderson-Minshall The Advocate A very readable book that offers a window on daily life in the SA as well as a provocative argument about homosexuality and Nazism. -- Laurie Marhoefer American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Fathers and Forefathers 2. Shattered Sons 3. Stormtroopers Confront The Criminal 4. The Battle of Sternschanze 5. Community and Violence 6. Bloody Sundays 7. The SA Takes Power 8. Long Knives Epilogue. From Sodom to Gomorrah: Hamburg in Ruins Acknowledgments Glossary Index

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Book SynopsisRight-wing populism has been on the rise in Europe and elsewhere. Germanys foremost populist party is called Alternative for Germany (AfD). Founded in 2013 and entering Germanys federal parliament in 2017, the AfD increasingly moved towards right-wing extremism. Today, the party is Germanys most successful nationalistic party. Following the populist playbook, the AfD started off with a simple neoliberal and anti-Europe message, but soon moved towards the extreme right. By 2017 the AfDs ultra-nationalistic wing had successfully outmanoeuvred the partys moderate and neoliberal leader Frauke Petry. Written from the standpoint of openness, pluralism, liberalism and democracy, this book examines the AfDs rise to fame, its successes, and the partys ideological links dating back to German Nazism of the 1930s. The author illuminates the partys ideological and institutional links to present-day Neo-Nazis; its close associations to the right-wing street movement Pegida; the recruitment of right-wing extremists and former Neo-Nazis into its parliamentarian ranks; its xenophobic, anti-Muslim, racist and anti-Semitic ideologies; and its relationship to the neo-fascist Identity Movement. A historical overview positions the AfD within Germanys political landscape. The work engages with the make-up of AfD voters and electoral successes; the partys relationship to anti-Semitism; and its dreams of re-establishing a mythical Aryan Volksgemeinschaft. Close attention is paid to the AfDs demagogic and nationalistic leader, Bjoern Hoecke, as well as the partys admiration for the radical right of neighbouring Austria. A final chapter examines the fascist character of the AfD as measured against Umberto Ecos fourteen elements of Ur-Fascism. Three questions are posed: Will the AfD lead to the end of German democracy? Is Germany moving towards another Third Reich? Is there another Hitler in the making?

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Book SynopsisDonald Trump’s campaign and presidency represented a radical departure from political norms that are often classified by media and researchers as ‘populist’. Instead, this book theorizes Trump’s campaign and presidency with reference to Mikhail Bakhtin’s "carnival" – a medieval festival of transgression, ridicule, and renewal. In this book, Lisa Gaufman and Bharath Ganesh provide a closer insight into the Trump Carnival, developing interdisciplinary perspectives on populism, misogyny, misinformation, and far-right vernacular culture. Building on the idea of the carnivalesque, this book focuses on the laughing culture of the Trump campaigns and presidency that vilified minorities, disparaged women, and ultimately emboldened the far right. Bringing Bakhtin into dialogue with key developments in contemporary politics, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the Trump phenomenon, American politics, and populism.

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Book SynopsisHow did Vladimir Putin win Russians’ support for his genocidal war in Ukraine and why are so many of them willing to embrace fascism? This vivid, bottom-up narrative reveals the dark realities of youth fascism in Russia—and the darker future awaiting the country if that hold cannot be broken. Wartime Russia is drowning in fascist symbols. Zealous patriots attack journalists, opposition activists, and anyone suspected of betraying the motherland. Hordes of online trolls and sleek videos of angry young men urge citizens to join the cause. State television terrifies viewers with false tales of anti-Russian conspiracies and genocidal yearnings. Child soldiers proudly parade across Red Square. This is Russia in the 2020s: a land of performative rage and nationalist untruth, where pretence and broken promises are a way of life, and an apocalyptic mindset is seizing tomorrow’s Russians. As compelling as it is chilling, Z Generation shows how Russia has ended up here, and where its young people may be headed: a fascist generation more violent and ideological than anything the country has seen before.Trade Review'A chilling investigation into the widespread support for the violence and ideology of fascism among Russia’s youth — and how Putin has used this to his advantage.' * Financial Times *'An incandescent indictment of [Putin's] regime... Garner writes with dash and panache, and pulls no punches as he rips through the evolution of the Putin regime.' -- The Sunday Times'A brilliantly detailed portrait of the ideological and cultural atmosphere engineered by the Russian state, media and Church... a chilling and essential book.' -- Times Literary Supplement'A chilling and eye-opening primer on how the Kremlin is cultivating a new generation of foot soldiers who will ensure that its ugly ideology survives even if the current regime falls.' -- The Moscow Times‘[A] chilling exposé.’ -- Airmail'Astutely examines Russian youth's growing embrace of fascism.' -- Prospect'Dissects the state's efforts to reshape the minds of Russia's young people.' -- New Lines Magazine‘A readable and disturbing account of the militarisation of Russia’s youth.’ -- The House Magazine'['Z Generation'] is invaluable to understanding how the conflict may well progress.' -- Diplomatic Courier, '15 Books to Look Forward to in 2023''Ian Garner has produced a brilliant and chilling investigation. He meticulously details how extraordinary levels of hate permeate a large section of the under-30s, who came of age under Putin's tutelage. No one can finish this book and still believe the invasion of Ukraine was just the fault of one bad guy in the Kremlin. As Garner so expertly shows, whatever happens in the war, we will be dealing with the consequences of Russian fascism for years to come.' -- Nick Cohen, Observer columnist and author‘A deeply disturbing, anecdotal exploration of the rise of fascism in Russia.’ -- Diplomatic Courier'Z Generation provides an excellent survey of the hateful content and deluded worldview of an increasingly mainstream fascism in Russia.' -- CHOICE'A forensic and grippingly-told examination of the descent of Russian youth into state-encouraged violent fascism. Garner makes the reader understand both the scale of the problem, and that it is one we will be facing for decades to come.' -- David Patrikarakos, author of 'War in 140 Characters: How Social Media Is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century''An unflinching and essential portrayal of the Putler Jugend with all its paradoxes and sadism.' -- Peter Pomerantsev, author of 'Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia''If you thought Putin's Russia was an ideology-free kleptocracy and most Russians are ashamed of or opposed to the invasion of Ukraine, read Ian Garner's gripping historical-cultural analysis of the descent of a portion of Russia's youth into fascist euphoria in support of their country's illegal invasion of Ukraine.' -- Maria Popova, Associate Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair, McGill University'What do young Russians think about their country, Putin and the world? Why do many tech-savvy, successful and well-educated young Russians support their country's invasion of Ukraine? Combining personal observations and academic research, this provocative book addresses questions crucial for understanding Russia's past, present and future.' -- Eugene Finkel, Kenneth H. Keller Associate Professor of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and editor of 'Coloured Revolutions and Authoritarian Reactions''Ian Garner's exceptional book deals with its subject matter--the growth of Russian fascism--in a way that is multifaceted and nuanced, but also clear-sighted about the threat it poses to Russia's neighbours, the liberal international order and Russia itself.' -- Mart Kuldkepp, Associate Professor of Scandinavian History and Politics, University College London

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Book SynopsisThe rich archive of twentieth-century debates on fascism can steer a path through an increasingly authoritarian present. Developing anti-fascist theory is an urgent and vital task. From the 'Great Replacement' to campaigns against critical race theory and 'gender ideology', today's global far right is launching lethal panics about the threats to traditional political, sexual and racial hierarchies.Drawing especially on Black radical and anti-colonial theories of fascism, Toscano makes clear the limits of associating fascism primarily with the kind of political violence experienced by past European regimes. Rather than looking for analogies from history, we should see fascism as a mutable process, one anchored in racial and colonial capitalism, which both predates and survives its crystallization in Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. It is a threat that continues to evolve in the present day.Trade ReviewThere are no unearned claims here. Rather, one feels that Toscano has thought through the political stakes of every single sentence in this crucial book. Late Fascism is painstaking in accounting for, differentiating, and connecting the many historical contexts and iterations of fascism - from the onset of colonial modernity, through the mid-twentieth century, to the present day. -- Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the FoxAlberto Toscano's Late Fascism brilliantly elucidates what Adorno once called 'the meaning of working through the past' to grasp fascism's capacious aptitude for untimely reappearances to resolve crises, real or not, to save capitalism from itself and restore the necessary political order such rescue operations require. Rather than drawing upon fascism's past in his approach, Toscano 's account persuasively lays to rest an interpretative scheme that explains such unscheduled repetitions by appealing to analogical comparisons of past and present as if they were the same. His own strategy positions history and memory against the present to disturb one another, unveiling uneven historical differences and incommensurables removed from an everyday dominated by exchange. Toscano's lasting achievement is the program of watchfulness he so carefully constructs to uncover the contemporaneity of late fascism in our midst, but never too late to recognize its ever-present morbidities. -- Harry Harootunian, Emeritus Professor of History, University of ChicagoIn this bold book, Alberto Toscano argues that the old checklist for identifying and understanding contemporary fascism won't work. To apprehend its present-day manifestations, we must consult writers from the Black radical tradition and critical ethnic studies. With his characteristic erudition, Toscano combines innovative readings of Western Marxism with insightful interpretations of the genealogies of anti-racism. This is an indispensable book for a distressing time. -- Roderick A. Ferguson, Yale UniversityAlberto Toscano is one of the most significant and original political theorists of our contemporary moment. In this work on the nature and aetiology of late fascism, he moves us beyond the European interwar examples as fascism's "ideal-type," and deconstructs the alleged opposition of fascism and liberal democracy. He instead emphasizes multiple origins, locations, and temporalities of fascisms; the imbrication of fascisms within colonialism, slavery, capitalism and counter-revolution; and is precise about fascisms' libidinal claims and the weaponizing of atavistic social energies turned against racial, religious, sexual and gendered others. Toscano engages an illuminating range of anti-fascist thought: from Ernst Bloch, Georges Bataille, and Leo Löwenthal, to Angela Davis and George Jackson; from Stuart Hall and Ruth Wilson Gilmore to Jairus Banaji and Furio Jesi - with dazzling results. -- Lisa Lowe, author of The Intimacies of Four ContinentsCan we speak of fascism before fascism? Alberto Toscano believes we can. In his learned excavation of debates across the twentieth century, he revives still unanswered questions about the location of the prison, the market, and the bedroom in theories of fascism. He also reminds us to ask what late fascism is afraid of. What is it trying to prevent? In this way, a study of fascism becomes a roundabout recovery of repressed and forgotten utopias-a flashlight in the dead of night. -- Quinn Slobodian, author of The GlobalistsLate Fascism is brilliant, incisive, and right on time. We are living through a moment when the "F" word is no longer taboo and the threat of fascism lurks everywhere. And yet, so mired in debates over definitions, typologies, and analogies that our understanding of fascism remains elusive. Alberto Toscano avoids this trap by turning to anti-fascist thinkers, whose groundings in anticolonial, antiracist, and anticapitalist struggles remind us that liberalism is no enemy of fascism, and fascists flower in the hot house of capitalism. -- Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical ImaginationToscano's wide-ranging, erudite study is both theoretically satisfying and politically inspiring - an essential reference for rethinking fascism and antifascist politics today. -- Michael Hardt, author of The Subversive SeventiesIn this book, Toscano provides us with the language and analysis necessary to theorize our current moment, one in which the danger of fascism is as real as ever. -- Jake Romm * Protean *Toscano's high-octane new book on heterodox theories of fascism ... traces the myriad ways it has been deployed over the past 100 years, mining each of them for parallels with the present. -- Oliver Eagleton * The New Statesman *Concise and intellectually ambitious. -- Andrew O'Hehir * Salon *Table of Contents1. Out of Time2. Racial Fascism3. Fascist Freedom4. A Phantom with Limbs of Steel5. Rushing Forward into the Past6. Ideas without Words7. Cathedrals of Erotic Misery

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