Fascism

I cannot recommend this book enough to students of history and political science. Utterly indespensible and completely fascinating from front to back. It was immediately put to use on a research paper and I will use it again and again in the future.

This book was both disillusioning and awe-inspiring. I will admit that I've always had a soft spot for fascism. Of course it has its flaws-as does any ideology- but I've always been instinctively drawn to the discipline, honor, idealism, cultural rejuvenation and national solidarity that is fascism. I've also grown to resent the fact that fascism is uniformly vilified as the incarnation of pure evil while the equally murderous history of communism is often downplayed or given a free pass altogether. We are constantly reminded of the horrors of the holocaust and inundated with the notion that fascism is synonymous with mass-murder, yet who today speaks of the millions (mostly Christians) liquidated by the Bolsheviks in their collectivizations? Indeed, editor Roger Griffin is guilty of this himself in this otherwise phenomenal book. With that said, I have to say that my sympathy for fascism has been somewhat lessened by this book. While I still admire certain aspects of it, and I would find it preferable to communism any day of the week, my conscience will not allow me to support the utter ruthlessness that many of the writings in this book represent. The book is basically a massive collection of fascist writings from across the spectrum. The sections are broken down nicely by country and time period, giving the reader a comprehensive and chronological look at the evolution of fascism through the words of the fascists themselves. Italy and Germany obviously receive the bulk of attention, but also covered are smaller and lesser-known fascist movements throughout the world. Whether or not National Socialism is a form of fascism is actually still a topic of debate and this is briefly discussed. Griffin concludes that except for a few significant differences, NS does fall into the category of fascism. As editor, Griffin's contributions are essentially limited to the writing of introductions to each section and even briefer intros to each individual writing. He is clearly well versed in the subject matter but nevertheless seems incapable of writing about it in an objective manner. He makes no secret of his contempt for fascism, and while this does not discredit the book, I was expecting a bit more objectivity from an `Oxford Reader.' That being said, I have to give him credit for amassing this anthology, many of which undoubtedly being previously unavailable in English. Contrary to popular belief, fascism is an highly intellectual movement, not a mere collection of racist thugs acting out violently. They may be crude and hateful at times, but after reading some of these works, there is no denying that many of the authors were brilliant in their own right, and that much thought and logic went into their worldviews (see Mario Machado's review for an excellent description). I'd just like to point out that fascism does not exist in a vacuum. There were many external factors that affected its development- i.e. the spread of communism- and it is important

Like every other Oxford Readers book in the market....ABSOLUTELY GREAT! This book allows you to appropiate the basic concepts regarding what is Fascism, this allows you to move on to more especific books on the subject and therefore make a move to more thorough analysis on the subject.It also presents you with the main theorists that have supported fascism since the early twenties until the end of the century. Another very interesting thing is that it also introduces you to very non orthodox fascisms, as well as to some that are not really known to the common reader. It analyses Fascisms from places such as Ireland, Estonia, Hungary, BraziL and South Africa among others.

FIRE IN THE MINDS OF MEN !!!!! An astounding piece of work, Roger Griffin's political and social insight into Fascism is Godly. Although the book is 90% full of political and philosophical contributions from writers around the world, R. Griffin's introductions and prefaces are very insightful and intelligent evaluations of the particular documents at hand. Pure Genius - Roger Griffin IS THE Premier Theorist of Fascism that I have ever read! One big interesting point is the numerous philosophical ideologies that supported and built the framework of Fascism; more mental and intellectual work than I think most people would understand and a lot more went into this political ideology than communism and democratic-republicanism. In the past 35 years, there has been a lot of crap written on POLITICAL HISTORY, etc.... I have never seen so much human waste in my life. Writers today do not have a clue as to what communism, fascism or even demorcatic-republicanism is. There is a bunch of idiots out there. I believe it is drugs and the fact that professors nowadays HAVE to write literature in their line of profession to keep their jobs - so they put out crap because they do not give a rat's arse about it .... but it keeps their job for them. Also, and most importantly, the US universities have many leftover Marxists (and the like... lefty liberals, etc). Marxists are morons! They have a one-dimensional view of reality and Fascism being a polymer of philosophical ideals is beyond their comprehension (Roger Griffin also implies this in this book). Some of their books are interesting. They always lead off with the key words, or catch phases, like proletariat and bourgeoisie. Then further, into writing about Fascism (or even democratic-republicanism) you can tell they get frustrated and confused in their own corner they work themselves into. That is when they jump in with the racist deal (right in the middle of everything) to divert the reader from the fact that THEY HAVE NOT A CLUE AS TO WHAT THEY ARE WRITING ABOUT. Then they pat themselves on the back because they followed through with the emotional racial (politically correct) statement and thus feel like they accomplished something and believe their own book to be something great. THIS IS ONE EXAMPLE OF WHY STUDENTS AND ADULTS ARE DISINTERESTED IN HUMANITIES IN GENERAL. Well Roger Griffin knows what Fascism is and gives the reader a much needed understanding (in common sense, down-to-earth language) of what went on in these people's minds. Here you have writings by various people (around the Globe) of perceptions of Fascist theories and ideas, by intellectuals and the common people. Roger puts his 2 cents in but uses his statements more as footnotes as to what is going on and fills in the blanks ... and it makes this piece of work invaluable and a landmark in literary genius. The ideological dynamics of Fascism are (finally) put here on paper as whole and complete. Roger Griff