Customer Reviews

American Fuehrer: George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party

5 star:		(5)
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3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Simonelli's book has two main virtues. First, he had a great deal of access to Rockwell's correpondence and papers and quotes from it liberally. Second, he had a great deal of access to the files of Jewish organizations and individuals who opposed Rockwell.

In spite of this wealth of primary sources, however, the book is disappointing and prefunctory. It seems that after all his archival sleuthing, Simonelli lost interest in his subject matter when he actually sat down to write the book. This leads to a distorted picture of Rockell's ideas and personality. A much fuller picture is found in the Schmaltz biography HATE.

One case in point: Simonelli's discussion of the case against John Patler, Rockwell's convicted killer, leaves out crucial pieces of evidence, giving the impression that the case against Patler was weaker than it actually was. Then Simonelli goes on to air the conspiracy theories blaming Matt Koehl, William Pierce, and others for the murder. These may seem plausible to the reader only because the case against Patler is stated weakly. This is VERY MISLEADING and quite simply unjust.

Simonelli actually does a better job of documenting how Jewish organizations first tried to terrorize and intimidate Rockwell, and then, failing that, resorted to a very successful press blackout to deny him publicity and prevent his ideas from being heard and debated. Simonelli demonstrates just how powerful the Jewish control over the media is, and how Americans are fed a version of reality that is distorted to protect and advance Jewish interests. This is a frightening thought, because if they did it then, they can do it now too.

The bottom line: I recommend this book as a supplement to Schmaltz's HATE, but not as a substitute. If you read one book on Rockwell, read HATE.

Not that the discerning reader can't get a lot of good info out of this book but it appears to me that the author went out of his way to portray Rockwell as a loser, a misfit, and someone in need of psychiatric care.

Simonelli somehow managed to get access to much of Rockwells personal correspondences but it seems that he selectively used them to point out instances of turmoil and sadness in Rockwells state of mind. He especially uses Rockwells feelings of despondency about his wife, who was the daughter of the Icelandic ambassador to America, leaving him and taking their children back to Iceland with her. I don't think its a particuarly radical statement for me to say that feeling sad about losing your wife and kids is a sign of being normal. Simonelli somehow manages to twist this into an example of Rockwell being an insane loser.

The other bio of Rockwell, Hate by William Schmaltz, is a far superior and unbiased account of GLR's life and highly recomended. However I can only recomend American Fuehrer to somebody who is researching Rockwell and knows how to read with a discerning eye.

This is a small book with 145 pages of text, 50+ pages of endnotes, and a weak index. Rather than tell the story of Rockwell, his lieutenants, and movement, Simonelli does a hatchet job continually referring to Rockwell as a hate monger. The author apparently thinks this needless repetition is necessary to get his points across.

Simonelli does bring further to light Solomon Fineberg's successful operation with his fellow Jews power to keep Rockwell from getting media attention, but he discusses it as if it occurred only between Jewish organizations. The real campaign was to orchestrated Jewish controlled news media. The book fails to mention the FBI's parallel program, COINTELPRO, which was both illegal and damaging to Rockwell.

The other book, William Schmaltz's , "George Lincoln Rockwell & the American Nazi Party," is a better and much more interesting book. It gives details of many of Rockwell's life, operations, confrontations with police, and much more detail on his lieutenants. "White Power," Rockwell's own book, which is still available, is well worth reading.

One has to suspect that Simonelli's book was a Ph.D. dissertation. It can serve as a reference for future biographers but generally is biased, a slow read, and unscholarly yet overly academic.

I am in the collectibles business, so when someone at my booth at a trade show says they are into Rockwell, I can always get laughs from other customers by asking "Norman or George Lincoln?" That alone testifies to the mark that George Lincoln Rockwell and his American Nazi Party, though small in numbers, left on modern American political history.
American Fuehrer purports to be the first biography of Rockwell written by someone who is not a Rockwell supporter and overall, it is a pretty good one. Though author Frederick J Simonelli goes to frequent pains to remind the reader that he finds Rockwell's views to be loathsome, he also is careful not to fall into the trap of constant name-calling that ensnares many other authors who write about the so-called racist right.
In this book, the reader learns about Rockwell's life before he became a Nazi and a racialist and in so learning can form his own theories about why Rockwell turned to Hitler for inspiration. One also learns about the difficulties Rockwell encountered using the image of Hitler and the symbolism of the Nazis as a recruiting tool so soon after we fought them in World War II. Unlike Hitler, Rockwell found it difficult to attract anything but the rabble to his cause. Competent organizers and administrators were few and far between. But one thing is clear, Rockwell thrived on nearly universal opprobrium.
I was only twelve years old when Rockwell was assassinated but remember seeing Nazis around in San Diego and the Nazi headquarters in El Monte later when I was a teenager. I saw their pamphlets, newspapers, and even the "Diary of Ann Fink" mentioned by the author that uniformed Nazis used to leave in public places. Reading these items gave a lot of teens the same frisson of anti-establishment glee they got when reading the ubiquitous LA Free Press or the Berkeley Barb. Few of them were motivated to anything beyond snickering at their sheer audacity. But reading American Fuehrer should motivate you to see George Lincoln Rockwell, The Fuehrer Who Never Was, not just as the bit player he was always destined to be but also as a man whose ideas had far greater influence beyond the grave than they ever had in his lifetime.

A rare gem of a biography. Dr. Simonelli's work on George Lincoln Rockwell is difficult to put down. Solid work on Rockwell and his influence in the 1960s, and how his efforts can be seen in National Socialists today. Simonelli's research into Rockwell's death has angered some of today's neo-nazis, ... You may ask why you should read a Rockwell biography. Read it and find out why.

I would recommend Simonelli's book to anyone who has even a casual interest in American History. It is expertly researched and well-written, but most enjoyable for its overall lack of prejudice. Rockwell's history is presented in and of itself, and those who do not subscribe to Simonelli's portrayal of the man will find themselves arguing with facts.

This book goes deep into the heart of George Lincoln Rockwell opening up the doors that lead to today's horrible hate crimes. I found the reading to be fast, thorough and very interesting. Good book and highly recommended!

I enjoyed this book and felt it was a fair treatment of the subject. Dr. Simonelli is a highly respected historian and can be seen providing insight on networks such as The History Channel.

I found that many of the other negative comments on this web site appeared bias to begin with.

I would suggest reading the book and treating it as what it was meant to be. Overall 5 stars.

Simonelli's book (which has gotten excellent reviews in Publisher's Weekly and Booklist) is a well-researched and serious study of Rockwell's role in the history of neo-Nazism in America by a professional historian who writes in a lively and gripping style.

There's nothing here, its academician speak! If I had wanted a dissertation I'd have bought this from UMI. I thought I was buying a book, not an abstract. Steer clear of this one!