Fascism: A History [Paperback]

Roger Eatwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

Historian Roger Eatwell traces the late-19th-century roots of fascism and its rise in the years before the First World War. Reviewing the post-World War II growth of racial violence, the wave of Holocaust denial material, and the surprising electoral gains of neofascist parties, Eatwell questions whether fascism could re-emerge as a major force?.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Eatwell is an astute observer of fascism's insidious appeal to workers and intellectuals alike. Far from being a mere opportunistic tool of reaction or a nihilistic movement lacking a coherent ideology, fascism, he argues, had underpinnings in a distinct set of ideas drawn from both the right and the left. Its fanatical nationalism celebrated the holistic community over the individual as it sought to forge a radical "third way" between capitalism and communism under charismatic, totalitarian rule. Hitler and Mussolini, he points out, were driven by strong ideological motives, a warped division of the world into good and evil. An important, engrossing study, his vivid analytical history examines how British and French libertarian traditions helped defuse fascism's appeal, although the interwar years saw the emergence in Britain of Arnold Leeser's virulently anti-Semitic Imperial Fascist League and Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, while many French intellectuals embraced fascist ideology. Eatwell, a British social scientist, concludes with a chilling look at neo-fascist groups in Germany, Italy, France and Britain.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Eatwell (Univ. of Bath, England) offers here a short, well-crafted overview of the origins and development of Fascism in Western Europe through the neo-Fascist movements of today. He focuses on two countries where Fascism was successful?Germany and Italy?and compares them with two important countries where Fascism played a major but less successful role in electoral politics?France and Great Britain. In such a relatively brief comparative treatment, the author succeeds well in selecting the high points for his narrative and explaining the differing and often-muddled Fascist ideologies. The sections dealing with postwar Fascism and the development of neo-Fascism are particularly valuable, since these issues are often overlooked in introductory treatments. Although there is a large literature devoted to Fascism, the brevity, clarity, and inclusiveness of this book make it a valuable addition to any library that covers European studies. Although it appears to be aimed at a university student audience, it is potentially interesting to high school students on up and general readers.?Barbara Walden, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 1ST edition (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140257004
• ISBN-13: 978-0140257007
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction to Fascism, July 8, 2000

By 

Elliott Campbell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fascism: A History (Paperback)

Fascism is a subject that always seems to fascinate a lot of people, whether their interest is historical or ideological. This is not surprising given its impact on the twentieth century world.

The basis of Eatwell's book lies in the thesis that fascism is a coherent political and social ideology. While the media usually associates fascism with rampaging skinheads or soccer hooligans, Eatwell points out that there is more to the movement than mere street thuggery. This point is becoming increasingly pertinent as the fascist parties of Europe gain ever increasing support. (For example, Austria last year elected a fascist party as coalition partner to their Government.) Eatwell also shows that historically, like Communism, fascism has taken many different strands, such as the Fascism of Mussolini, the Nazism of Hitler, Strasserism, etc. etc. While broadly similar in aims, the streams of fascism often differed in key respects.

Well written in a clear and jargon-free manner, Eatwell surveys the intellectual origins of fascism and charts its history in Europe both in the past and more recently. He concentrates on Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom.

This is an absorbing book and an excellent introduction to further reading on this subject.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, but doesn't quite answer the question, February 24, 2006

By 

Whitt Patrick Pond "Whitt" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fascism: A History (Hardcover)

I picked this book up wanting to find the answer to a question I've long wondered about: just what is fascism? Everyone talks about it, uses the term "fascist" as both an adjective and a noun, but when I ask, no one seems to be able to tell me just what differentiates fascism from other ideologies. After finishing this book, I found that it did help some in answering the question, but in the end it left more things vague than it managed to clarify.

The best parts of the book are the first chapters where it does make an attempt both to define the points where fascism differs from other ideologies and to show the evolution of fascism in a philosophical and historical context. One point it makes is that fascism was promoted as a "third way" for those who wanted an alternative to both communism and capitalism. Another point is that fascism is generally based on a rather narrow definition of who qualifies as a proper citizen, generally limiting it to a specific race, culture or region. It is anti-republican in its approach, seeking to exclude rather than to include, and it tends to cast everything in an us-vs-them perspective. And another point is that fascism believes radical change is necessary, and to that end the state must be "totalitarian" (a word first coined to describe the goal of Italian fascism), meaning that the state must totally remake its citizenry, shaping their lives from cradle to grave, with dissent or non-participation not an option.

The parts of the book dealing with the history of past fascist states (Germany and Italy), movements in other states (France and Britian) and the later neo-fascist movements in those same states, are disappointing because the book loses its focus and fails to fit the events into the ideological context presented in the first part of the book. And though the history presented is accurate in terms of facts and chronologies, it fails to get down to the personal level, never really showing the effects of fascism on the lives of individual people as part of the fascist state, which I very much would have liked to have seen it do.

One last worthwhile point the book makes, however, particularly relevent to the conditions we find ourselves in now, is that fascism generally only takes root when people have lost faith in their existing institutions. At a time when people are increasingly voicing their disillusionment and disgust with both political parties, this is a caution worth bearing in mind.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of fascism's rise and fall in Europe, August 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Fascism: A History (Paperback)

The reviewer from Redondo Beach, California is correct -- Eatwell's thesis that fascism is a unified political philosophy is not terribly believable. The fascists were power-hungry thugs who changed their rhetoric to gain votes, in both cases, Italy and Germany.

That being said, I still strongly recommend this book as a good introduction to the roots of fascism. Eatwell's writing is lucid and his research of the behind-the-scenes politics is impressive.

While I would have appreciated more on the ideology rather than the politics of fascism, apparently the ideology was almost a facade, so no deep philosophical questions need be raised.