Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International [Paperback]

Kevin Coogan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Francis Parker Yockey, a lawyer and former war-crimes prosecutor, was one of the most enigmatic figures inside the far right in both Europe and America. While he is best known today for his book Imperium, a huge tome often described as a Mein Kampf for modern-day neo-Nazis, his life remains a mystery. Pursued by the U.S. Government for almost a decade, Yockey was arrested by the FBI in 1960. Shortly after his capture, he was found dead in his jail cell. An autopsy showed that the 43-year old mystery man had swallowed a cyanide capsule. Yockey’s story takes us into the heart of the postwar Fascist International, a shadow Reich composed of spies, conspirators, and occultists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This study is a treasure chamber for all those interested in the ideology of the heirs of fascism and Nazism in Europe and America, of National bolshevism, Odinism, various occult sects of the extreme right, and the groups which tried to provide a synthesis between the extreme left wing and far-right thought" -- Walter Laquer, author of THE BLACK HUNDRED: THE RISE OF THE EXTREME RIGHT IN RUSSIA, and FASCISM: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Product Details

• Paperback: 644 pages
• Publisher: Autonomedia; 1 edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570270392
• ISBN-13: 978-1570270390
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreamer of the Day, August 5, 2002

By 

Wyatt C. Kaldenberg "Wyatt Kaldenberg, 'Heath... (Bonsall, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International (Paperback)

This is a huge 600 plus page book, a very well written book about American Aryanism and uses Yockey as a focusing point. There is a lot of great history and most of it is correct from the author's worldview point. About 70 or more of the people in the book I know or have known. Every one from the little old lady who got Rockwell into National Socialism and her husband, who use to talk about their days in the Silver Shirts, to Keith Stimely who about force fed me Yockey, and Boyd Rice who played a part in my wedding. It's like reading a high reunion letter.
This is an interesting book for anyone who wants to understand Yockeyism. The only problem I had with the book is that Yockey is like Deva. Only a tiny sect of movement people have ever read Yockey. Only the elite, not the rank and file, most have never heard of Yockey. So any influence he has is through a trickle down effect.
Also, I think Yockeyism is basically an American concept. Few European Nationalists, even the leaders I've talk to know little about Yockey.
It's a very good book on a very limited subject.

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Very Big Book on a Bit Player, May 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International (Paperback)

Francis Parker Yockey's IMPERIUM is a fascinating and highly readable book. It combines a Nietzschean-Spengerian vitalist philosophy of history and culture, fascist political philosophy, and a very realistic assessment of the prospects for fascism after the second world war. It is not really an original book, but it is a brilliant synthesis. It is a big book, but easy and exciting to read. It gives even the most skeptical reader a sense of how plausibly the world can be viewed from Yockey's perspective, thus it is a particularly valuable tool for understanding fascism "from the inside." Yockey also had an interesting life. That said, however, Yockey is not a particularly important or influential figure. Like Ayn Rand, he can have a profound impact on young readers, but if they are lucky they grow beyond him.

Coogan's book is even longer than IMPERIUM. It is readable, and I learned a lot from it. His discussion of Yockey's life was quite fascinating.

But there is something deeply inane and kooky about this book. Coogan tries to write a virtually complete history of post-war fascism around Yockey. But this just does not work. One can, of course, find many people in the post-war right who have read Yockey's work. Some of them knew him personally. But very few were decisively influenced by Yockey, and most of those who were found him useful for leading them to the more subsantive thinkers Yockey himself depended upon. At best, Yockey should receive a footnote or a couple of paragraphs in the history of the post-war right. Anything beyond that is leaning on a bruised reed.

Coogan evidently does not read French, German, Italian, or Spanish. His discussions of books available only in these languages appear to depend entirely upon English-language literature. This is a serious handicap for any scholar of the post-war right and further diminishes the value of the book.

As I slogged through Coogan's book, an image from Camille Paglia came to mind. Coogan's discussion of Yockey is like a tiny marshmallow rolling around the floor collecting lint and dog hair. DREAMER OF THE DAY is a five star biography of about 250 pages buried under 400 pages of extraneous material. Nobody should read more than 600 pages ABOUT Yockey until they read 600 pages BY Yockey: IMPERIUM.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and on-going phenomenon, August 22, 2000

By 

Denis Kennefick (Quincy, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International (Paperback)

When we think of Fascism, it seems to me that we recall the rise of the most notable leaders of Fascism during the 20th century; namely Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. We also tend to consider the most recent examples such as the rise of discontent that now exists within the industrialized nations of the west as well as the regimes in South America. Until I completed Dreamer of the Day, it never really occured to me that there could be such a widespread appeal for this type of political doctrine which left Europe in ruins and the surviving perpetrators of the world war on the run. The world was on a witch hunt for the people responsible and they themselves were occupied with successfully trying to escape the wrath of the world. Dreamer of the Day was an excellent book to explain to me that there were forces still at work to keep the perennial doctrine of Fascism alive and well. Francis Parker Yockey was a white nationalist of extraodinary intelligence and ambition. His goal was unite all of Europe under a new form of Fascism which was to include the Soviet Union. His belief was that the true utopian nature of communism simply could not exist in the world where human nature prevails. The totalitarian regimes of the Soviet Union and the satellite states of Eastern Europe would have eventually formed into a new form of National Socialism unique to postwar Europe. The influence of the United States was considered to be detrimental to the racial, social and economic health of Europe. All of this transpired during the 1950's when Europe was rebuilding and America was enjoying a new found prosperity. The survival of Fascism during this time has led to the flourishing Fascist movements that exist in Europe and America today. This book is an excellent eyeopener to the activities of the leading members of the Fascist underground which does much to explain the underlying forces of Fascism today and its growth in the future.