An ideological book to challenge all ideologies through the tool of radical and revolutionary fascism but then moves on to reject itself even

Ever since the shocking revelations of the fascist ties of Martin Heidegger and Paul de Man, postmodernism has been haunted by the specter of a compromised past. In this intellectual genealogy of the postmodern spirit, Richard Wolin shows that postmodernism’s infatuation with fascism has been extensive and widespread. He questions postmodernism’s claim to have inherited the mantle of the Left, suggesting instead that it has long been enamored with the opposite end of the political spectrum. Wolin reveals how, during in the 1930s, C. G. Jung, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Georges Bataille, and Maurice Blanchot were seduced by fascism's promise of political regeneration and how this misapprehension affected the intellectual core of their work. The result is a compelling and unsettling reinterpretation of the history of modern thought. In a new preface, Wolin revisits this illiberal intellectual lineage in light of the contemporary resurgence of political authoritarianism.

What is fascism? By focusing on the concrete: what the fascists did, rather than what they said, the esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question. From the first violent uniformed bands beating up “enemies of the state,” through Mussolini’s rise to power, to Germany’s fascist radicalization in World War II, Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and not others, and explores whether fascism could exist outside the early-twentieth-century European setting in which it emerged. "A deeply intelligent and very readable book. . . . Historical analysis at its best." –The Economist The Anatomy of Fascism will have a lasting impact on our understanding of modern European history, just as Paxton’s classic Vichy France redefined our vision of World War II. Based on a lifetime of research, this compelling and important book transforms our knowledge of fascism–“the major political innovation of the twentieth century, and the source of much of its pain.”

In this book, Julius Evola analyzes the Fascist movement of Italy, which he himself had experienced first-hand, often as a vocal critic, throughout its entire history from 1922 until 1945. Discussing - and dismissing - the misuse of the term 'fascism' that has gained widespread acceptance, Evola asks readers not to allow the fact of Italy's defeat in the Second World War to distract us from making an objective analysis of the ideology of Fascism itself, since the defeat was the result of contingent circumstances and the personalities of those who led it, rather than flaws that were inherent in Fascism as an idea. Evola praises those aspects of Fascism which he believes to have been in accordance with the best traditions of European governance, in particular the Classical Roman tradition, while he remains critical of those aspects which ran contrary to this ideal, such as its socialist, proletarian and totalitarian tendencies, as well as what he saw as its petty moralism. Evola also distinguishes between the Fascism of the 'Twenty Years' between 1922 and Mussolini's overthrow in 1943, and the 'Second Fascism' of the Italian Social Republic, which he considered as much more problematic. He likewise criticizes the Fascist racial doctrine for being based on false principles. Frequently quoting Mussolini's own words, Evola presents the core of the Fascist ideal, arguing that, for all its flaws, it remains superior to the political system which has since arisen to replace it. Julius Evola (1898-1974) was Italy's foremost traditionalist philosopher, as well as a metaphysician, social thinker and activist. Evola was an authority on the world's esoteric traditions and one of the greatest critics of modernity. He wrote extensively on the ancient civilizations of both East and West and the world of Tradition, and was also a critic of the political and spiritual movements of his own time from a traditional perspective.

Companion volume to Fascism viewed from the Right.

This volume, a companion to Evola’s Fascism Viewed from the Right and Notes on the Third Reich, contains many of his occasional essays on the topic of fascism as understood from a traditionalist perspective which were written between 1930 and 1971, thus comprising both his contemporary and post-war assessments of the fascist phenomenon. Here we find Evola’s views not only on Italian Fascism and German Nazism, but also his discussions of other movements such as the Spanish Falange and the Japanese Imperial ideal, as well as his commentary on such diverse subjects as Nazi esotericism, the idea of a new spiritual Order to lead Europe, and the reasons for his rejection of Nazi biological racism. Also included are interviews Evola personally conducted with Corneliu Codreanu, the leader of the Iron Guard, and Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, the founder of the Pan-European Movement (the forerunner of the European Union), and the full text of ‘Orientations’, the famous essay Evola wrote in 1950 concerning the proper approach of the European Right in the post-war era which he further developed in Men Among the Ruins. These essays show Evola to have been an unsparing critic of fascism, always urging traditionalists to aspire for something higher than the merely political.

Intellectual debates surrounding modernity, modernism and fascism continue to be active and hotly contested. In this ambitious book, renowned expert on fascism Roger Griffin analyzes Western modernity and the regimes of Mussolini and Hitler and offers a pioneering new interpretation of the links between these apparently contradictory phenomena.