BLACKSHIRT – Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism
Inbunden bok. Viking. 2006. 717 sidor.
Nära nyskick. Skyddsomslag i nära nyskick.
PRESENTSKICK. På engelska.
BLACKSHIRT is an important and controversial biography. Utilizing previously unseen documents from Germany and sources ard archives from around the world, Stephen Dorril overturns many of the accepted ideas about Oswald Mosley and British Fascism.
Hated and adored, trusted and feared, respected and scorned – public opinion has never been indifferent to Oswald Mosley. A brilliant politician, he 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 Oswald Mosleys reputation, but BLACKSHIRT casts new light on the man. The author reveals the true nature of his relationship with the Nazis, the Nazi funding of his movement and his desperate attempts – aided by his wife Diana and her sister, Unity Mitford – to support Hitlers regime.
The author challenges the prevailing veiw of Mosleys descent into anti-Semitism and shows that the campagin against the Jews was not a response of the Fascist project – a pre-planned assault which drew the admiration of the Nazis.
Was Oswald Mosley a potential traitor? Secret files suggest he was prepared to countenance a ”coup détat” in order to fulfil his dream of a Fascist state. Hitler never gave up hope of using Mosley in the event of an invasion of Britain as the countrys nominal leader.
With ground-breaking research and extensive use of archive material, BLACKSHIRT uncovers a bizarre set of characters and behind-the-scenes friends and colleagues who supported Mosley – crooks, swindlers, political and royal figures, secret agents, Nazi spies, lovers and ”crackpots”.
With the rise of extremism, the pandering to antiimmigrant sentiments and the willingness to abuse civil liberties, the new biography is a timely reminder of the dangers of charismatic figures who refuse to believe they may be wrong.
