Product Description

How is fascism defined? What is the basis of its appeal? Is it a cogent body of ideas, or is it essentially irrational and opportunistic? Why did it take root so successfully in Germany and Italy, and not in France or Britain? These are among the questions addressed in this book, which draws together fascism's different strands, in Italy, Germany, France and Britain, and traces it from the first appearance of certain key ideas in late-19th-century literature, to the resurgence of fascism in the 1990s. The author looks at the evolution of fascism up to and during World War II, and shows how it was interpreted in different countries in different ways. He also assesses post-war fascism, and considers its future in a Europe whose boundaries continue to change. Along the way, the book provides portraits of Mussolini, Hitler, Mosley, Le Pen and other significant figures within the movement.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2048790 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-04
• Released on: 1996-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

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.

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.

From Booklist
In this accessible overview of fascism's history and potential future impact, Eatwell argues that the ideology not be defined entirely by the record of Hitler and Mussolini. Fascism "preaches the need for social rebirth to forge a holistic-national radical Third Way" between capitalism and communism, he maintains, based on a coherent body of ideas (on human nature, history, and political and economic institutions) and on characteristic tools (propaganda, the charismatic leader). Carefully analyzing fascism's interwar success in Italy and Germany (and failure in France and Britain), Eatwell concludes that, given severe socioeconomic crisis, "fascism succeeded where it achieved syncretic legitimation, the ability both to appeal to affective and more individualistic voters, and to convince . . . a section of the mainstream elites that it could serve their purpose better than existing parties." The final third of Eatwell's study traces fascism since 1945 in the same four countries and suggests that many of the preconditions for the rise of fascism exist again in 1990s Europe. Mary Carroll