Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

“Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst? Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing... (more)

American Fascists

by Chris Hedges

Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists first spoke of the United States becoming a Christian nation that would build a global Christian empire, it was hard to take such hyperbolic rhetoric seriously. Today, such language no longer sounds like hyperbole but poses, instead, a very real threat to our freedom and our way of life. In American Fascists, Chris Hedges, veteran... (more)

1984

by George Orwell

George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision of "Negative Utopia" is timelier than ever-and its warnings more powerful.

V for Vendetta

Comic Book

by Alan Moore, David Lloyd

V for Vendetta is, like its author's later Watchmen, a landmark in comic-book writing. Alan Moore has led the field in intelligent, politically astute (if slightly paranoid), complex adult comic-book writing since the early 1980s. He began V back in 1981 and it constituted one of his first attempts (along with the criminally neglected but equally superb Miracleman) at writing an ongoing series. It is 1998 (which... (more)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Perennial Classics)

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Perennial Classics)

by Muriel Spark

The elegantly styled classic story of a young, unorthodox teacher and her special--and ultimately dangerous--relationship with six of her students.

The Wave (Puffin Teenage Fiction)

by Morton Rhue, Todd Strasser

"Wave" is based on a true incident that occurred when a teacher conducted an experiment dealing with group pressure in his classes.

Before We Were Free (Readers Circle)

by Julia Alvarez

Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship. Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must... (more)

The Remains of the Day

by Kazuo Ishiguro

A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England. A wonderful, wonderful book.

The Battle for Spain

The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

by Antony Beevor

A fresh and acclaimed account of the Spanish Civil War by the bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall Of Berlin 1945 To mark the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War’s outbreak, Antony Beevor has written a completely updated and revised account of one of the most bitter and hard-fought wars of the twentieth century. With new material gleaned from the Russian archives and numerous other ... (more)

Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945

Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945

by R. J. B. Bosworth

In his extraordinary new book, Richard Bosworth brings to life the period in which Italians participated in one of the twentieth century's largest, most notorious, and ultimately most ruinous political experiments-Fascism-under their dictator, Benito Mussolini, and his henchmen. The Fascists were the first totalitarians, and they provided a model for many other twentieth-century dictatorships, Hitler's first among... (more)

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil

by Philip G. Zimbardo

What makes good people do bad things? How can moral people be seduced to act immorally? Where is the line separating good from evil, and who is in danger of crossing it? Renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo has the answers, and in The Lucifer Effect he explains how–and the myriad reasons why–we are all susceptible to the lure of “the dark side.” Drawing on examples from history as well as his own... (more)

The Anatomy of Fascism

by Robert O. Paxton

What is fascism? Many authors have proposed definitions, but most fail to move beyond the abstract. The esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton answers this question for the first time by focusing on the concrete: what the fascists did, rather than what they said. From the first violent uniformed bands beating up “enemies of the state,” through Mussolini’s rise to power, to Germany’s fascist radicalization in World... (more)

Olga

by Fernando Morais

Olga Benario, German and Jewish, was one of the most remarkable Communist activists of the twentieth century. Blessed with a genius for organization, the beautiful, willful Olga crisscrossed the globe educating and activating legions to combat the worldwide plagues of Nazism and fascism. At the age of nineteen, she masterminded a daring prison raid to free her then-lover, the Communist intellectual Otto Braun.... (more)

The Leader

by Guy Walters

In his chilling new thriller Guy Walters turns his attention to Britain in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Edward VIII has not abdicated but reigns with Queen Wallis. His PM - and the man who really rules Britain - is Oswald Mosley; the two of them are hand in glove with Adolf Hitler. Winston Churchill, along with his supporters, is interned on the Isle of Man. Only one man can save Britain from the hands of the... (more)

The politics of cultural despair : a study in the rise of the Germanic ideology

The politics of cultural despair : a study in the rise of the Germanic ideology

by Fritz R. Stern

"An enlightening and solidly documented book of great value to those who would like to trace the ideolgoical roots behind the most erratic and dramatic politics phases of modern Germany."-- American Political Science Review "If only because it presents the intellectual and emotional background to National Socialism with rare clarity and penetrating analysis of its several and often sharply contrasting... (more)

Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century

Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century

by Mark Mazower

"A useful, important book that reminds us, at the right time, how hard <European unity> has been, and how much care must be taken to avoid the terrible old temptations." -- Los Angeles Times Dark Continent provides an alternative history of the twentieth century, one in which the triumph of democracy was anything but a forgone conclusion and fascism and communism provided rival political solutions that... (more)

Zoli: A Novel

by Colum McCann

A unique love story, a tale of loss, a parable of Europe, this haunting novel is an examination of intimacy and betrayal in a community rarely captured so vibrantly in contemporary literature. Zoli Novotna, a young woman raised in the traveling Gypsy tradition, is a poet by accident as much as desire. As 1930s fascism spreads over Czechoslovakia, Zoli and her grandfather flee to join a clan of fellow Romani... (more)

Obama - The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate

Obama - The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate

by Webster Griffin Tarpley

Barack Obama is a deeply troubled personality, the megalomaniac front man for a postmodern coup by the intelligence agencies, using fake polls, mobs of swarming adolescents, super-rich contributors, and orchestrated media hysteria to short-circuit normal politics and seize power. Obama comes from the orbit of the Ford Foundation, and has never won public office in a contested election. His guru and controller is... (more)

Conformist, The

by Alberto Moravia

Secrecy and silence are second nature to Marcello Clerici, the hero of The Conformist. He's a man with everything under control - a wife who loves him, colleagues who respect him, and the hidden power that comes with his secret work for the Italian political police during the Mussolini years. But his perfect life becomes a nightmare when he's ordered to kill his former professor to demonstrate his loyalty to the... (more)

Chaos Walking

The Ask and the Answer

by Patrick Ness

We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: fascism

The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

by Jonah Goldberg