The beast reawakens

Martin A. Lee

From Nazi spymasters in the postwar German intelligence services to the militant forces behind the Oklahoma City bombing, fascism has not only survived World War II but is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in international politics. The Beast Reawakens is the first history to examine the various strands of right-wing extremism worldwide and put the current fascist resurgence in perspective. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of pages of once classified U.S. government documents, The Beast Reawakens exposes the hidden machinations of the infamous postwar ODESSA network and, perhaps most surprising, the key role played by U.S. neo-Nazis in this shadowy political netherworld. A rogues' gallery of characters stride through the pages of this compelling chronicle, including an American fascist who moonlighted as a Communist spy and later emerged as the patron saint of Holocaust-deniers in the United States and abroad. Instead of invoking the rhetoric of racial supremacy, the more astute strategists emphasize preserving national identity and cultural uniqueness. Targeting immigrants and ethnic minorities, their scapegoating message has touched a raw nerve in a post-Cold War world still reeling from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and major changes in the global economy. Catalyzed by these far-reaching developments, fascism is on the march again.