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Henry Williamson: The Artist As Fascist
The purpose of this essay is to examine the life and work of the author Henry Williamson, to assess what influences caused him to join the British Union of Fascists in 1937; and to establish whether he was fully committed to fascism in all its aspects or was, as many of his family and supporters have claimed, merely the last of the great romantics, one who misunderstood the full import of fascism and was misled into supporting it by his love of his country and of nature.
67 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 20, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 12, 2026
I found this a very interesting read, despite the author’s pejorative tone.
Williamson was a man of his time. Born in 1895, he spent 4 years in the trenches. Here he encountered the socialism of comradeship. This was taken a stage further with the Christmas truce between the allies and the Germans in 1914, involving also the exchange of small gifts, carol singing and playing football together. It was only natural then for him to question why ‘cousin’ nations should be fighting each other. Like Hitler (with whom he compared himself) he was disillusioned at the end of the war, despite being on the ‘winning’ side. On the surface, the two men had much in common: difficult fathers for a start!
In Williamson’s eyes the West’s values were awry: man was increasingly at odds with nature, to the detriment of the planet. (Ringing any bells)? HW came to see Hitler as Europe's saviour.He would be a cleansing force for good, stopping corruption, upturning the tables of the money -changers and putting his world ‘back on track’. Romantic and naive no doubt but Williamson was not alone in that. Like others, he would come to espouse fascist ideals, join the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and help Mosley to recruit.
The fall of the Third Reich saw Williamson an increasingly isolated figure. His disassociation with Hitler was equivocal, to say the least and he remained loyal to the Mosleys to the end.
A short and fascinating read for me. It begged the question : to what extent did Henry Williamson epitomise others of his generation, particularly those who had fought in the Great War? Does this necessarily make them bad men and women?
I haven’t yet read anything by Henry W but I hope to read Tarka the Otter soon.
Williamson was a man of his time. Born in 1895, he spent 4 years in the trenches. Here he encountered the socialism of comradeship. This was taken a stage further with the Christmas truce between the allies and the Germans in 1914, involving also the exchange of small gifts, carol singing and playing football together. It was only natural then for him to question why ‘cousin’ nations should be fighting each other. Like Hitler (with whom he compared himself) he was disillusioned at the end of the war, despite being on the ‘winning’ side. On the surface, the two men had much in common: difficult fathers for a start!
In Williamson’s eyes the West’s values were awry: man was increasingly at odds with nature, to the detriment of the planet. (Ringing any bells)? HW came to see Hitler as Europe's saviour.He would be a cleansing force for good, stopping corruption, upturning the tables of the money -changers and putting his world ‘back on track’. Romantic and naive no doubt but Williamson was not alone in that. Like others, he would come to espouse fascist ideals, join the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and help Mosley to recruit.
The fall of the Third Reich saw Williamson an increasingly isolated figure. His disassociation with Hitler was equivocal, to say the least and he remained loyal to the Mosleys to the end.
A short and fascinating read for me. It begged the question : to what extent did Henry Williamson epitomise others of his generation, particularly those who had fought in the Great War? Does this necessarily make them bad men and women?
I haven’t yet read anything by Henry W but I hope to read Tarka the Otter soon.
January 24, 2026
Typical smear piece produced by liberal trash to dismiss the legacy of an honest man.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews