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mfeezell's review against another edition
4.0
Posed a lot of good questions and made me think on these issues from a new perspective. Little exhausting to read considering what’s happened in the last few months, but overall worth it.
iillianne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Things are v scary rn
malikp's review against another edition
3.0
Informative. Prior knowledge on European political parties is necessary for a more cohesive reading experience.
blrobin2's review against another edition
2.0
Renton argues that the Trump-era far right is not “actually” fascist, but a novel style of authoritarianism that has been developing worldwide, using the details of other fascist parties in history to support this. I think his argument is fundamentally sound, even if I don’t fully agree with his conclusion
All of that is overshadowed by the fact that Renton is… frankly, a pretty bad writer. He cannot frame his onslaught of historical facts into a traceable story, making it difficult to keep track of what he’s trying to say
In addition, some of his minor musings and observations are just factually incorrect (for example, he casually throws in “The Clash used to be a nazi band” without any argument as though this is common knowledge and not just speculative horse shit). It worries me that some of the larger details suffer from a similar disregard/ignorance/whatever
Overall, I’m glad I read it, I just hope I can find a more competent approach to the subject
All of that is overshadowed by the fact that Renton is… frankly, a pretty bad writer. He cannot frame his onslaught of historical facts into a traceable story, making it difficult to keep track of what he’s trying to say
In addition, some of his minor musings and observations are just factually incorrect (for example, he casually throws in “The Clash used to be a nazi band” without any argument as though this is common knowledge and not just speculative horse shit). It worries me that some of the larger details suffer from a similar disregard/ignorance/whatever
Overall, I’m glad I read it, I just hope I can find a more competent approach to the subject
aaronchance25's review against another edition
4.0
David Renton surveys many different right-wing movements and shows how the far right has converged with center-right conservatives to create an electorally effective movement. He mainly focused his attention on Brexit, Donald Trump, and Marine Le Pen, but also touched slightly on other political shifts such as Bolsanaro in Brazil and Modi in India.
As someone who didn't know much about politics outside of the United States, a lot of the book was highly informative. Given how active the far-right has been recently, I would have liked to see an updated analysis. For instance, he makes the argument that many of the people who are often called fascists (such as Donald Trump) are better categorized as non-fascist far-right, set apart because of their focus on electoral victory while (typically) eschewing street violence. I wonder how Trump's response to the George Floyd protests ("When the looting starts, the shooting starts"), his Proud Boy statements ("Stand back and stand by"), as well as the overall election fiasco (including the January 6th event), would affect his analysis on Trump. I know Robert O. Paxton, another scholar on fascism, has been hesitant to describe Trump as a fascist until the January 6th Insurrection: https://web.archive.org/web/20210312204123/https://www.newsweek.com/robert-paxton-trump-fascist-1560652
I'd recommend this book to people concerned about the recent growth in far-right elements and who want to better understand their origin and possible future.
As someone who didn't know much about politics outside of the United States, a lot of the book was highly informative. Given how active the far-right has been recently, I would have liked to see an updated analysis. For instance, he makes the argument that many of the people who are often called fascists (such as Donald Trump) are better categorized as non-fascist far-right, set apart because of their focus on electoral victory while (typically) eschewing street violence. I wonder how Trump's response to the George Floyd protests ("When the looting starts, the shooting starts"), his Proud Boy statements ("Stand back and stand by"), as well as the overall election fiasco (including the January 6th event), would affect his analysis on Trump. I know Robert O. Paxton, another scholar on fascism, has been hesitant to describe Trump as a fascist until the January 6th Insurrection: https://web.archive.org/web/20210312204123/https://www.newsweek.com/robert-paxton-trump-fascist-1560652
I'd recommend this book to people concerned about the recent growth in far-right elements and who want to better understand their origin and possible future.
caitlincook918's review against another edition
3.0
I've only become interested in politics in the last few years, so this is a new type of book for me. While I can't claim to fully understand what I read, I think it was useful. It helped me understand shifts in conservative and right-wing politics. It was particularly interesting to read just following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It's a short book, but it took me a while to read because my mind kept wandering. Partly because I sometimes read before bed, but partly because I started to think about the recent political situation in the U.S. I would read this book again. Thank you to Haymarket Books for offering this ebook for free.
ctrack's review against another edition
3.0
Really torn on this review. Read this in 2022 and it was written in 2018, wild to see what was wrong and what was right.
indigonight's review
4.0
I was prepared to give three stars, but the counters to the far right presented in the conclusion are actually useful and achievable goals, unlike many of this book’s ilk, and that bumped it up to 4
Overall good analysis of what powered the far right in 2016, but feels a little outdated now given all the developments in the far right in 2020, such as the huge normalization of right wing conspiracy theories since COVID and the growth of right wing street politics that occurred over the summer in response to anti racist demonstrations.
Overall good analysis of what powered the far right in 2016, but feels a little outdated now given all the developments in the far right in 2020, such as the huge normalization of right wing conspiracy theories since COVID and the growth of right wing street politics that occurred over the summer in response to anti racist demonstrations.