Lyndon Larouche and the New American Fascism [Hardcover]

Dennis King (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Trotskyist in the 1940s, four-time presidential candidate, head of the National Democratic Policy Committee, right-wing extremist Lyndon LaRouche was recently convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges. King, a journalist who has unveiled the workings of the LaRouche cult almost singlehandedly over the years, here produces a courageous, hard-hitting expose. The LaRouchians raised over $200 million in loans and donations from the public, despite what the author describes as the sect's "classic fascist" ideology, anti-Semitism, brain-washing, smear tactics and fanatical support of the Star Wars defense system and military build-up. According to King, LaRouche's eccentric posturing (he claimed the Queen of England was a drug pusher and branded Henry Kissinger a communist agent) was useful cover--a pose to distract the media while LaRouche forged bonds with the Reagan administration, the CIA, the National Security Council, the Ku Klux Klan and other white-supremacist groups, Teamster bosses and crime lords, among others. King charges that the major media looked the other way, adopting a "see-no-evil" policy that allowed LaRouche to flourish.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this portrait of LaRouche and his followers, journalist King provides a case study of the development of a radical movement. He discusses LaRouche's childhood, which helped to shape LaRouche's particular world view, as well as LaRouche's strange odyssey from left-wing Marxist to right-wing leader of the reactionary National Democratic Policy Committee. King examines the bizarre coalitions--the Ku Klux Klan and black civil rights groups, for example--that LaRouche has managed to form and galvanize into political action. LaRouche has also managed to maintain ties to such disparate figures as Manuel Noriega and Teamsters' boss Jackie Presser. This is a riveting narrative about a man who would say or do anything to gain personal power and who seems to have used his blatant anti-Semitism to successfully entice followers.
- Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 415 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (January 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385238800
• ISBN-13: 978-0385238809
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why do you think the LaRouchies hate this book?, October 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lyndon Larouche and the New American Fascism (Hardcover)

This book is probably the best-researched book on the LaRouche cult to be published. The LaRouche cult has started many organizations over the years, basically to present different faces to the broad public. King's book tries to show how a charismatic leader could bring a communist cadre organization out of the student left, transform it into an opportunistic fundraising machine and cozy up to the fascist right in this country, all while purporting to be the cadre who would help save the world from the evil villains (as they identify them) of the moment. Clearly the book ends while the cult still survives behind various front organizations, so if you feel impressed with the LaRouchies, then do yourself a favor: before you commit your savings or make major career decisions on behalf of that group, read this book.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A superficial book with little depth or analysis, February 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lyndon Larouche and the New American Fascism (Hardcover)

Some years ago, I encountered the LaRouche movement; since then I have learned and wanted to learn much about them and about LaRouche especially. I learned about King's book from their literature and did not expect it to be flattering, but I did expect it to contain information that would shed some light on the man and the movement. Although there were some informative bits and I didn't have high expectations for the book, it was still worse than I expected. When LaRouche and his associates criticized King's book, they did make an effort to explain where King was coming from and why he wrote the book. Unfortunately, I found little or no corresponding explanation of LaRouche in King's book. King does a good job of providing a bookful of anecdotes about LaRouche but his work as a whole exhibits little depth and makes at best a weak attempt at analysis.

Who the heck is Lyndon LaRouche? Where does he come from? Where is he trying to go? Why did he leave his comfortable management consulting practice to start a political movement? Who are his followers? Where do they come from? Why are they so loyal? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Why has LaRouche been so popular with certain groups in America? Doesn't the fact that he is popular with these people say something informative about some sectors of American society? Why is it that virtually every remnant of the New Left of the 1960s has long ago disappeared while the LaRouche movement still exists in 1999? How has this longevity been possible? For the last eight years, I have not found entirely satisfactory answers to these questions, and I was hoping that Dennis King, who I thought would be the best expert on LaRouche outside of the movement itself, would be able to shed some light on this conundrum of a man and a movement. I have my own theories, but I'd really like to hear those of someone who has been watching these guys for 20 years or more.

Overall, the book is a disappointment; it seems muddled at times and answers none of the really big questions.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book exposes the nazi threat to American society, July 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lyndon Larouche and the New American Fascism (Hardcover)

This book exposes the threat to American society which is being imposed by Lyndon LaRouche and his cult of mindles zombies. Having been taken in by a one-time organizer of a faction within the Students for a Democratic Society, his followers blindly follow an ideology based on hate. The Jews are the object of the hatred...LaRouche follows a revisionist philosophy which denies the holocaust, denounces rock n roll and calls for a neo-European society. Therefore,it all leads to the idea of neo-Naziism in America.King is exhorting the readers to wake up to stop the nonsense that leads to genocide the world over...Of course this book should be required as part of a classroom curriculum.