Failed Führers: A History of Britain's Extreme Right / Edition 1

by Graham Macklin

Overview

This book provides a comprehensive history of the ideas and ideologues associated with the racial fascist tradition in Britain. It charts the evolution of the British extreme right from its post-war genesis after 1918 to its present-day incarnations, and details the ideological and strategic evolution of British fascism through the prism of its principal leaders and the movements with which they were associated.

Taking a collective biographical approach, the book focuses on the political careers of six principal ideologues and leaders, Arnold Leese (1878–1956); Sir Oswald Mosley (1896–1980); A.K. Chesterton (1899–1973); Colin Jordan (1923–2009); John Tyndall (1934–2005); and Nick Griffin (1959–), in order to study the evolution of the racial ideology of British fascism, from overtly biological conceptions of ‘white supremacy’ through ‘racial nationalism’ and latterly to ‘cultural’ arguments regarding ‘ethno-nationalism’.

Drawing on extensive archival research and often obscure primary texts and propaganda as well as the official records of the British government and its security services, this is the definitive historical account of Britain’s extreme right and will be essential reading for all students and scholars of race relations, extremism and fascism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415627290
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/15/2020
Series:	Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Graham Macklin is Assistant Professor/Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published extensively on extreme right-wing and anti-minority politics in Britain in both the inter-war and post-war periods including Very Deeply Dyed in Black: Sir Oswald Mosley and the Resurrection of British Fascism after 1945 (2007), British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives (2011), co-edited with Nigel Copsey, and Researching the Far Right: Theory, Method and Practice (2020) co-edited with Stephen Ashe, Joel Busher and Aaron Winter. Macklin co-edits the journals Patterns of Prejudice, and Fascism and the ‘Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right’ book series.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Arnold Leese: The ‘anti-jewish’ camel doctor 2. Oswald Mosley: From ‘Britain First’ to ‘Europe-a-Nation’ 3. A. K. Chesterton: From ‘Fascist Revolutionary’ to ‘Jew-wise’ conspiracy theorist 4. Colin Jordan: Dreaming of the Nazi ‘Vanguard’ 5. John Tyndall: In pursuit of the ‘Anglo-Saxon Reich’ 6. Nick Griffin: From the ‘Third Position’ to anti-Muslim ‘populism’... and back again Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This is an original, deeply researched and very readable book by the leading scholar of British fascism. It makes an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of the British fascist tradition."

Professor Roger Eatwell, University of Bath, UK.

"By introducing a biographical approach to reveal the diversity of the visions of national rebirth adopted by six British fascists over nearly a century, Graham Macklin puts welcome flesh on the abstract formula and abstruse generalizations that have too often plagued fascist studies in the past, and simultaneously reveals the transnational nature of the fascist project in the minds of its most ardent believers. Hopefully, Macklin’s impressively researched and thoughtful biographical study will inspire a new genre of fascist studies."

Professor Roger Griffin, Oxford Brookes University, UK.

"Failed Führers offers us something remarkable, a synoptic overview of the British far right firmly rooted in the granular detail of narrative biography. A maestro of British archives, Macklin brilliantly illuminates the shady saga of a rogues gallery of fanatics from Arnold Leese and Oswald Mosley to Colin Jordan and Nick Griffin. Failed Führers is a must read for anyone concerned about fascism, past, present . . . and future?"

Kevin Coogan, author of Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International.

"This is a readable and well-researched book from one of the leading scholars of British fascism. Dr Macklin’s thesis centres on six meticulous case studies of leading British fascists, usefully setting their stories in a wider international context. With neo-fascism and the authoritarian and exclusionist populist right on the rise across the globe, this is an engaging and timely reminder to keep our eyes on the past, in order to better understand the unstable present."

Dr David Baker, Warwick University, UK (Retired).

From the Publisher