Alerta! Alerta!: Snapshots of Europe's Anti-fascist Struggle

by Patrick Strickland

According to journalist Patrick Strickland, “Anti- fascists are winning. . . .Whether they are shutting down racist speakers, or protesting a news program for providing them an unchecked platform elsewhere, anti-fascists [have] made it impossible for the media to ignore them.” The left and its anti-authoritarian variants were fighting far-right populism and neo-Nazis long before the mainstreammedia became aware of such groups. Strickland provides on-the-ground profiles of the unique characters involved in anti-fascist struggles in countries across Europe, offering historical context, explaining the roots and growth of the far-right, as well as the history of European anti-fascism and how it informs struggles around the world today.

The remarkable individuals Strickland introduces us to provide windows into the broader anti-fascist movement in each country, highlighting the creative tactics employed to fight hatred and white supremacy from Germany and Greece to Croatia and Slovakia. He interviews activists from many generations and walks of life—some of whom have been fighting fascists since World War II. Whether young or old, these heroes can be found “doxxing” neo-Nazis (exposing them publicly on the Internet), eradicating right-wing graffiti from public spaces, confronting fascists directly on the streets, and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Journalism, History, Activism

180 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2018

About the author

Patrick Strickland is a writer and journalist from Texas. He’s the author of three nonfiction books on the far right and migration: You Can Kill Each Other After I Leave (2025), The Marauders (2022), and Alerta! Alerta! Snapshots of Europe’s Antifascist Struggle (2018). His reporting has appeared at The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Time, Al Jazeera English, and elsewhere. His fiction has appeared in Epiphany, Pithead Chapel, and the Porter House Review, among others. He was a 2024 de Groot Foundation Writer of Note. He is currently the managing editor of Inkstick Media.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you'd like to be depressed and inspired at the same time, this is the book for you. Strickland briefly talks about five European countries: Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Italy and Croatia. He discusses a bit of their history, the recent uprising of fascism (as individual actions, organized groups, and political parties), and the counter-actions of anti-fascists. Although the activists' work is empowering and uplifting, reading about all of the hate crimes was incredibly difficult.

The subtitle says 'snapshots' and that's really what it is. I would have preferred to have a far more in-depth discussion of the countries Strickland visited. Or I would have liked the book to have a small discussion of more countries, like Hungary or Austria.

[snailsnail]

You know, there's interesting stuff in here, and it's valuable to have a glimpse at a moment right before we plunge into totalitarian oblivion, but it's really not very well written. The prose feels dashed off and poorly edited; it is extremely journalistic, in the worst sense – like a student reporter is desperate to fill a dozen more inches, minutes before the deadline; and, honestly, it just gives too much space to the fascists, who get interviewed and quoted and whose ideas are explained, often without any kind of a rebuttal.
Also, what the heck is a 'rugged goatee'?

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cool discussion of all the different forms that anti-fascism takes. In addition to the rise of fascism in Europe, there has been a rise in anti-fascism, and this book demonstrates how noble and worthwhile those anti-fascist pursuits are.

[T. Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written like author was on a time constraint while story seemed quite one-sided: glorifying Antifa and confusingly suppressing freedom of speech activists rather than real alt-right.

[Luke]

Pub 2018

[Trace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty easy to read but interesting.