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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than most, despite its flaws, May 9, 2002
This review is from: Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity (Hardcover)
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke has written two outstanding books on Nazism and its links to religious/occult philosophies and figures: "The Occult Roots of Nazism" and "Hitler's Priestess." In both of those previous books (the first based on his doctoral dissertation at Oxford), he engaged in prodigious original source research and showed a bright light on subjects that had previously received either little attention or sloppy sensationalistic treatment. If "Black Sun" is a trifle disappointing, it is so only by comparision with his own earlier achievements. This latest work is much more journalistic and relies, unfortunately, on others' research more often than not. Moreover, Goodrick-Clarke, in attempting a survey of current aryan/Neo-Nazi/Satanic/far right groups and writings, ends up covering ground already covered in books like Joscelyn Godwin's "Arktos," Kevin Coogan's "Dreamer of the Day," and his own "Hitler's Priestess" (which is about Savitri Devi, who combined Hinduism and Hitlerism). It is not as if Goodrick-Clarke didn't spend his time in the trenches: it appears that he engaged in extensive correspondence with a number of his subjects and, as always, he has obviously read and digested much of the material that he summarizes in a clear-cut fashion. His chapter on Miguel Serrano breaks new ground in reporting on the extent of that author/diplomat's eccentric Hitler worship. But on other figures of the neo-nazi fringe, such as David Myatt, one is left with the impression that Goodrick-Clarke may have given too much credence to their own self-presentation or, conversely, to the hyperbole of their critics. Make no mistake, this is as good a summary of present neo-nazi, extreme right ideas and personae as one is likely to find, but in dealing with the current scene - in a book that was written over the course of nearly a decade - "Black Sun" falls prey to the criticism, (voiced in some other reviews here,) that it is not entirely accurate or up to date. Especially in dealing with the knotty and ambiguous area of neo-nazi and Satanic overlaps, Goodrick-Clarke would have benefitted from inside information which was apparently beyond his grasp. Still, it is never quite cricket to criticize a book for what a critic thinks it should be or might have been. There is much information here that cannot be found anywhere else, and with the caveat that one should double check any facts that may have been superceded by subsequent events, "Black Sun" is a compelling read.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Expected better from this author., March 4, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity (Hardcover)
This book is an obvious attempt at an 'apology' for his most popular book, _The Occult Roots of Nazism_, which became required reading for many of the neo-Nazi groups he speaks of in his latest offering. You would think Goodrick-Clarke would have seen this coming after sensationalising the title from its original (his doctoral thesis), and then plastering the black and red front cover with the swastika and dagger emblem of the Thule Society! _Black Sun_ is simply an overview of the very marginalized groups that form the extreme neo-Nazi right, and a lot of the material is regurgitated from his book on Savitri Devi. Nazi/UFO's/Antarctica/The Coming Race etc... is a very fun topic, but trying to ascribe its loony adherents with the terrorist label is sensationalism at best, and completely factually inaccurate at worst. The nice front cover featuring a 'Black Sun' struck with the Sig rune will sell many copies at Aryan white-power rallies until they figure out what it's really about.
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24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Disappointing Look At NeoNazism., March 30, 2002
This review is from: Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity (Hardcover)
In this book, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke tries to give an account of the continuation of much of the Nazi philosophy after the demise of the Third Reich. However, after his previous work _The Occult Roots of Nazism_ this book is surely a large disappointment. The book presents chapters on the American NeoNazis (especially Rockwell), British Nazis (including Colin Jordan and "Combat 18"), Julius Evola, Francis Parker Yockey and James Madole, Savitri Devi, a collection of "mysterious" and occult phenomena surrounding the Third Reich, Wilhelm Landig, UFOs and Antarctic underground bases, Miguel Serrano, black metal, Nazi Satanism, Christian Identity, Nordic paganism, and conspiracy beliefs regarding the New World Order. Unfortunately, there is very little holding this book together and it is rather poorly written. Although the book is entertaining, some of the weirdest things you are likely to read about, it fails to achieve any sort of conclusion at all and resorts to gratuitous references to terrorism (the events of September 11, unconnected with Nazism at all). For a much better account of NeoNazi and far right beliefs read either: _Arktos_ by Joscelyn Godwin or _Dreamer of the Day_ by Kevin Coogan.
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