The Fascist Revolution: Toward a General Theory of Fascism

by George L. Mosse

A brief yet invaluable reassessment, from one of our most insightful and profound thinkers on the nature of fascism. Co-editor of the Journal of Contemporary History and author of nearly two dozen books, Mosse has helped to shape our contemporary understanding of fascism and consequently of 20th-century history. He has trained dozens of practicing historians, leaving the field indelibly altered. The essays collected here have all appeared previously in academic journals and scholarly volumes. Following the usual convention in which "fascism" refers to the generic phenomenon (while "Fascism" alludes to the Italian manifestation), Mosse examines such various facets as: fascist aesthetics and the avant-garde; fascism and the French Revolution; the nexus between fascism, nationalism and racism; fascism and the role of intellectuals; fascism (specifically, National Socialism) and the occult; and fascism and homosexuality. The author opens his introduction by acknowledging the changing interpretations of fascism over the last five decades. His own method might be described as cultural analysis, or to borrow a term from Clifford Geertz and cultural anthropology, "thick description." To be sure, class analysis, long favored by many Marxist and leftist historians, fails to fully capture fascism's essence. And yet even a cultural approach poses certain inherent difficulties. For, as Mosse and others have pointed out, a paradox lies at the heart of "fascist studies": intellectuals have chosen rational analysis to study and explain a movement that is irrational by its very nature, i.e., inherently hostile to the humanistic tradition. Hardly an introductory work for the novice, but instead a fundamental summation of a lifetime.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

German-born American social and cultural historian.

Mosse authored 25 books on a variety of fields, from English constitutional law, Lutheran theology, to the history of fascism, Jewish history, and the history of masculinity.

He was perhaps best-known for his books and articles that redefined the discussion and interpretation of Nazism.

Reviews

[Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mosse gives an awesome overview of a "general theory of fascism" and is especially strong in making the case for a "revolution from the right" which challenges traditional discourse on the subject. However, it is also clear that Mosse is giving a cultural examination of the history of fascism (in which he excels, to be clear) and not a social examination of the movement. He touches on the intellectual aspects, or the lack thereof, in the both National Socialism and Fascism, but fails to really make a significant analysis of intellectual patterns and ideas in his comparison with the French Revolution.

Otherwise, a wonderful read.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seminal papers on a wide range of topics -

[Bryn Baldasaro]

Read chapters 3-6. Highly insightful series of essays. Dr. Baxa loves this historian.

[Ivano Porpora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro che spiega, in modo conciso e chiaro, peculiarità e differenze di nazismo e fascismo.
Per non confonderli con altro; per non ripeterli.

[Biblioteca]

Attenzione: �� un estratto di un altro volume di G. Mosse

Il libro �� in realt�� il capitolo VII de "L'uomo e le masse nelle ideologie nazionaliste".

[Rosenkavalier]

Attenzione: è un estratto di un altro volume di G. Mosse

Il libro è in realtà il capitolo VII de "L'uomo e le masse nelle ideologie nazionaliste".