The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America's Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement [Paperback]

Kevin Flynn (Author), Gary Gerhardt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 1990

They claim to be as American as apple pie, but they are this nation's deadly brotherhood--hate groups that package their alienation against the federal government under such names as the Aryan Nations, Christian Identity, and other white supremacist militias. They spout anti-black, anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi rhetoric, and their grievances have festered into full-blown paranoia. They are poised to disrupt America's major cities via thievery, assassination, and bombs. This is the chilling inside story about the most heinous domestic terror groups in American history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Two courageous investigative journalists have created an insiders' account of the "silent brotherhood," the anti-Jewish, white supremacist underground that, with the justification of some perversely interpreted Christian teachings, conducts an all-out race war. The movement has gathered a group of superpatriots, zealots, malcontents, as well as, rather disturbingly, a large majority of ordinary people. These followers see the underground's survivalist creed as the way whites can protect their race from "Jewish monied elites" and nonwhites "living off of welfare." Flynn and Gerhardt outline some of the brotherhood's activities--bank robberies, armored car heists, and, most notably, the savage assassination of Denver radio talk-show host Allan Berg. A chilling, frightening book.
- Frank Kessler, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Signet (November 6, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451167864
• ISBN-13: 978-0451167866
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #607,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Silent Brotherhood, October 19, 2005

By 

Cwn_Annwn (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America's Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement (Paperback)

This is a "true crime" style account of Bob Matthews and The Order. It was a lot more fair and impartial than I expected. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (and neither was The Order themselves) but even members of The Order have said it is more or less accurate except for minor details and the dialogue that the authors threw in. This is still a must read book if for no other reason its the best book about Bob Matthews and The Order that has been put out and is written in a way that keeps you interested the whole way through. Whether you consider them terrorists or freedom fighters you will probably get something out of this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reading, but a little misleading, May 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America's Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement (Paperback)

"The Silent Brotherhood" is a well-researched and in-depth look at one of the most infamous domestic terrorist groups, The Order. It illustrates how alarmingly normal people can harbor deep and unrelenting passions against society.

You come a way with a sense of respect for both the FBI agents, who put a tremendous amount of effort into the case, and another strange sense of respect for Robert Jay Matthews, who becomes a sort of modern-day tragic hero. In the background, you have the other personalities of the far-right, who do provide quite the tapestry of characters.

I do fault the book on several fronts. One, I noticed a large number of typing errors into the end of the text. Two, since this was a second release, there should have been some updates on the other players. Third, the authors smear the entire militia movement with a broad brush. Most militias are nothing like the Order

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good resource for white nationalists, March 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America's Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement (Paperback)

In general this book is respectfull of Bob Mathews and his companions. At times it portrays him as manipulative, and that is a shame since Bob Mathews was a hero. However, the authors are remarkably fair to our movement, and the authors must have worked very hard on research. White nationalists can benefit from reading this book, because it shows us how hard it is to start a revolution, which is why we are focussing on propaganda today. Hopefully this book will help preserve the memory of Bob Mathews and his companions, many of whom are still in prison. We will write a more heroic account of them when the separate white nation is formed, but for now this book is the closest we will get to a fair treatment.