Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism

by Stephen Dorril

Hated and adored, trusted and feared, respected and scorned – public opinion has never been indifferent to Sir Oswald Mosley. A skilled politician, Mosley turned his back on conventional party politics to found, in 1932, the British Union of Fascists. Over the intervening years, many have worked hard to guard Mosley’s reputation but Blackshirt casts new light on the man. It reveals the true nature of his relationship with the Nazis, and challenges the prevailing view of his descent into anti-Semitism. With ground-breaking research, Stephen Dorril uncovers an extraordinary set of characters and behind-the-scenes friends and colleagues who supported Mosley - the crooks, swindlers, political and royal figures, secret agents, Nazi spies, lovers and ‘crackpots’ - and who helped to create the most infamous politician of the twentieth century. Praise for ‘The authority of this book rests on thorough research’ - Sunday Telegraph ‘An exhaustively researched and provocative study’ - Sunday Times Stephen Dorril is a widely respected authority on the security and intelligence services. He has written several books on intelligence and contemporary history, most recently MI6, covering the last fifty years of special operations. He is a regular consultant on TV documentaries and is a senior lecturer at Huddersfield University. He lives near Huddersfield.

Genres: History, Politics, Biography, Nonfiction, British Literature, World War II

691 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[CB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many biographies, this book suffers from poor editing. The author appears to have simply published his research. Compendious. 600+ pages. A shame, because parts are very well written and insightful but get lost in the excess details (thus only 2-1/2*). Nonetheless, an interesting pathology of fascism.

On an odd personal note, I discovered in reading this book that my grandfather (Cdn. Infantry), Oswald Mosley and Hitler, were all coincidentally together at Ypres on April 22nd, 1915, the date usually referred to as the Second Battle of Ypres -- the first truly horendous assault in what was to become the hallmark of WWI trench warfare. It is also the first major gas attack of the war, and the date my grandfather was wounded in battle. Crazy synchronicity.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography is outstanding. I have always been interested in Sir Oswald Mosley after watching the Channel 4 mini-series about him in 1998. Stephen Dorril's book is not a hagiography, but nor does it demonise the leader of the British Union of Fascists as a monster. While Mosley got much wrong in his political career, he was also right on various issues and some of his ideas would appeal to people at various points on the political compass. Interestingly, his post-war idea that Europe should become one nation is one that would repel virtually everyone that gets labelled "Far Right" today. The Corbynistas might agree with some of his analysis of international Jewish power.

In this reader's judgment, Mosley's biggest mistake was embracing the strong-man theory of leadership, which is incongruous with British liberty. Ironically, his internment during World War II was unjust, as he had committed no crime, and forced him to reconsider the issue of individual civil liberties. Consideration of Mosley also helps us to realise that the issues which emerged in the years leading up to the Second World War are not as black and white as we sometimes think. It is understandable why figures like Mosley wanted to avoid another war with the Germans, though it was probably wishful thinking on their part. A war with Nazi Germany was unavoidable, though I personally think we got our timing wrong. Britain should have either intervened earlier when Hitler was weaker or later after Germany had fought it out with the Soviets. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, however.

My only criticisms of this book are its length and the fact that the author provided a bibliography for every chapter rather than specific references. The notes to the book are available from the author's website: http://www.8bitmode.com/rogerdog/mosl...

[ParisianIrish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Dorril's Black Shirt is a formidable and meticulously researched account of one of Britain's most controversial political figures. With journalistic precision and academic rigor, Dorril peels back the layers of myth surrounding Sir Oswald Mosley and offers a penetrating exploration of British fascism in the early 20th century. The book excels in contextualizing Mosley’s rise and fall within broader European political currents, and it brings to light many lesser-known episodes that shaped the British Union of Fascists.

The book is particularly strong when examining the intersections between high society, media, and fascist ideology—shedding light on how Mosley garnered influence among Britain's elite while courting authoritarianism.

However, the book does occasionally suffer under the weight of its own detail. At times, the sheer volume of minutiae—lists of minor associates and extended tangents on lesser-known figures, —can distract from the central narrative. While thoroughness is commendable, some of the deep dives feel more like detours, slowing the momentum of what is otherwise a compelling and important historical study.

Despite this, Black Shirt remains a significant contribution to the study of British political extremism. For readers seeking a definitive and unflinching portrait of Mosley and his movement, this is an essential—and at times overwhelming—read.

[Rick Burin · Rating 2 out of 5]

An incredibly dry biography that rarely gets close to Mosley the man – endlessly waylaid by discussion of economic policies, lists of fascists, and dull potted biographies of everyone Mosley ever met once – but does at least dismantle almost all of his rehabilitative self-mythologising.

He was anti-semitic, and limited, and a bad husband. He was a toxic public menace who chucked away a parliamentary career on a narcissistic trip, consorted with most of Europe’s most appalling criminals, and ended up a pathetic, deluded and mendacious embarrassment. (But an establishment figure once more – only in Britain.) He also led a fascinating life that’s in other ways ill-served by this exhausting book.

Dorril’s levels of research are staggering – one can only admire the lengths he will go to disprove a misleading Mosley assertion – but his writing is often lifeless, long-winded and confusing, full of clumsy segues and irrelevant information. You learn a lot about what Mosley did (as well as just about everyone else involved in British or even European fascism between 1930 and 1980), but he’s usually in the distance.

It took me an age to get through this one.

[Jordan Phizacklea-Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustive in its scope, this is an authoritative biography of British fascism's most notorious figure, a man who spent years weathering the reputation of being the most hated man in Britain after cosying up to Hitler, Mussolini and importing an Empire-furnished version of their fascist ideology to Britain's political discourse. Mosley ultimately comes across as a political weathervane, flitting from the Conservatives to Labour as the fashions suited before finding his home in the violently-worded antisemitism that grew crowds and resulted in historic street battles and, ultimately, social pariah status. You won't come away from this book any more sympathetic to Mosley or his ideas (thankfully) but if you want an understanding of how he was able to gain the following he did then this book will give you all you need.

[Honoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen Dorril's biography of Mosley has been thoroughly researched, and the political storyline is well told, making the book essential reading for anyone with an interest in the subject. However my interest in Moseley is lukewarm, and I found Dorril's biography difficult to stick with - despite being a great reader of history and biography. The fault isn't necessarily Dorril's.

My first glimpse of Mosley was P.G. Wodehouse's caricature, amateur dictator Sir Roderick Spode and his 'Black Shorts', and through reading about the Mitford family. I don't hold with Mosley's political views and didn't expect to like him, but I was hoping Dorril's book would help me understand Mosley, beyond my existing two-dimensional idea of him as Britain's most popular fascist. 'Black Shirt' tells the political side of his story in great detail, but Mosley's personal story remains more elusive.

The book begins with an overview of the subject's ancestry and early life, which in Mosley's case includes the separation of his parents due his father's philandering. Dorril follows the unfortunate trend of modern biographers to bung in a bit of psychoanalysis at this point. He speculates about Mosley's unusually close relationship with his mother and distant relationship with his father, and how these may have shaped the man to come. This kind of speculation is occasionally justified where a biographer has delved deeply into the subject's early life. If Dorril has delved deeply, he doesn't share it with us. A mere five pages are given to Mosley's early childhood and maternal relationship, most which is conjecture with a few isolated quotations from his mother (given without sufficient context for us to judge if the conclusions are reasonable).

Dorril moves quickly through Mosley's youth and brief army career to the political story, where he is on safer ground and handles the subject expertly. Mosley's personal life is given lesser attention, although it's frequently handled in the same way as his childhood; Dorril offers more 'psychoanalysis' of Mosley's first wife Cimmie (who he describes as stout, although the illustrations show no such thing), drawing similarities between the philandering Mosley and her father, Lord Curzon. Other important relationships and events are dealt with quickly, and feel like distractions from the political story. Mosley's illness and death is dealt with in less than a page - in a book spanning some 647 pages.

Black Shirt is an excellent political history. I don't feel as though my two-dimensional ideas about Mosley - the man - have been shattered, but Dorril isn't to blame. Mosley's own careful image-management makes it difficult to get close to him, and he has left very little personal account that can be trusted (he even had his mother's diaries burned). Nor are the second-hand accounts of those who idolised him wholly reliable. In light of this, it seems fitting that Wodehouse's caricature endures.

[Peter Roycroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have to echo the views of others that this book was hard work. It almost appears that the author didn't want to leave out any of what I can only imagine was prodigious research, regardless of whether it really deepened one's knowledge of the far right's role at this time in British history. However, despite that, I rarely found my attention drifting because in amongst all of the information was much of interest. The sheer number of far right parties and organisations in the 1930s (and even after WWII) is mind boggling. That many members of the aristocracy seemed heavily involved in them shouldn't be a surprise I suppose. Their world was beginning to crumble around them and they perhaps felt a Hitler or Mussolini could halt the process. The naked and virulent anti-Semitism openly expressed by so many in the 30s, and even incredibly after the war when the details of the holocaaust were known, still shocks today.

In his younger years Mosley's narcissism seems to have been somewhat in balance with his genuine passion for politics, but it is very hard not to reach the conclusion that it slowly got the better of him as he turned towards naked racism and embrace of Nazism, which he seems to have felt would bring him the power he needed. Thankfully the conditions for fascism in the UK were not ripe, as they were in Italy and Germany. If anything his wife Diana (one of the Mitford sisters), comes across as even more odious and Hitler-loving. Some of the Conservative MPs were clearly quite sympathetic to fascism (including initially Churchill and people around him). And of course press baron Lord Rothermere was very supportive of Mosley at many times. What also comes across was what a pitiful role the Labour party played as an opposition to both Conservatism and fascism in most of the 30s.

So, in conclusion, overly detailed but extremely deeply researched and quite an eye-opener in may respects. The author deserves credit.

[Tristram · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing biography of Sir Oswald Mosley, which oversees all the complexities of his character in an unflinching and straightforward manner. This is one of those historical works that I believe is so important and well written that it leads me to want to contact the author and shower my compliments upon them, but unfortunately Dorril doesn't seem to have an easy method of doing so. I see a few reviews saying it's too expansive, but if you are really interested in learning about the environment/culture/context in which Mosley lived and operated within, I'd say it's all very useful to read. I wouldn't say it includes unnecessary detail. In fact, I think in certain areas where discussing the controversy of some of (well, let's be honest, a lot of) Mosley's ideas, it would have benefited from a bit more of a wider public context, i.e. how regular people were responding to his ideas rather than only other fascists/fascist sympathisers and active anti-fascists. It's kind of indicated implicitly at certain points with vote numbers which I found really interesting. He seems to be a rather neglected figure in British political history but without a doubt one of my favourites (to research!), I really enjoyed this book.

[Jeff Parry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough and enlightening biography of Oswald Mosley. You learn a lot about this rightly maligned, deeply flawed, populist politician. He travelled across the political spectrum, always convinced of his own political brilliance, making enemies in all the political parties. He thought that he could become the leader of Britain's working class and the strongman that he felt Britain needed. Many will find it odd that he was once talked of as a future leader of the Labour Party but chose to leave when he wasn't promoted when he wanted it.

This is a very thorough story but can feel exceptional dense at times.

[harvey simons · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not an enjoyable read

The first thing that put me off this book was the poor editing, I do not think that I have ever seen so many spelling mistakes in a so called scholarly work. Moseley is a challenging subject but I never felt that there was sufficient analysis of the motivation for his turning to fascism. Was he just a copycat of Hitler and Mussolini thinking that he could gain power in this way? I do not think that this book gave me an answer. I was left with a reinforced message that he was a nasty opportunist and and anti Semite.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was almost an overload of information. It was a book that takes a lot of dedication to get through. I wasn't up for it though I did read more than half the book. Mosley was a person indictive of how England has perceived itself and continues to do so. The fascist elements continue to exist, the rascist and imperial nature of England will always pervade the society from the monarchy down to the working classes.

[Chris Purser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about Oswald Mosley and the BlackShirts that he set up. This has confirmed by feelings about the Right in the UK,

[Janna S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well researched and gives a lot of insight into the life of Mosely. But very lengthy and at times unnecessary detailed. Edit people!

[Frances Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best History Book I’ve read to date! Enlightening (and frightening), I had no idea just how much of a traitor Mosley was

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mosley was a fascinating man, the wannabe fascist dictator of Nineteen Thirties England. Many folk have been caught up in the charisma of his character and the dressing-up thrill of his uniformed movement and conveniently forgotten that this dashing chap was also a vile, violent, unprincipled, exploitative racist. This fascinating, exhaustively-researched book goes a great way to redressing the balance whilst still remaining even-handed.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite a lengthy biography of Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (1896 – 1980), a British politician who rose to fame in the 1920s as a Member of Parliament. By the 1930s, he became disillusioned with mainstream politics and took an interest in fascism. Mosley became the founder and leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF).

An interesting biography, indeed.

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[Katharine Holden · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting, but the book badly needed a good editor. It's not necessary to include every detail unearthed in research, i.e., if a letter isn't revelatory of something important or key then you probably don't need to analyze it, and you certainly don't need to analyze it in depth. Ultimately, a dull book.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough examination of Mosley and his fascists. As a student many years ago, I studied the 1930s in British politics closely and this illuminated some corners not well covered at the time I was studying.

[Rob Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed which was great for my A level studies. I think was the most helpful book I read when studying Mosley's life.