MACMILLAN Reactionary Nationalists, Fascists and Dictatorships in the Twentieth Century: Against Democracy (Palgrave Studies in Political History)

This book provides a comparative study of fascisms and reactionary nationalisms. It presents these as transnational political cultures and examines the dictatorships and regimes in which these cultures played significant roles. The book is organised into three main sections, focusing on nationalists, fascists and dictatorships in turn. The chapters range across French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German experiences, and include a broader overview of the political cultures in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Latin America. The chapters consider the identities, organizations and evolution of the various cultures and specific political movements, alongside the intersections between these movements and how they adapted to changing contexts. By doing so, the book offers a global view of fascisms and reactionary nationalisms, and promotes debate around these political cultures. Review “Amid the current boom in scholarly writings about fascism and other right-wing political formations, this thoughtful and challenging new collection brings much-needed illumination to the convergences and separations that allow us to place these movements inside a shared twentieth-century political frame. Its authors do this not just comparatively, by bringing together expertly presented national case studies, but also transnationally, by showing how their interconnections might work.” (Geoff Eley, University of Michigan, USA) “Reactionary nationalism, fascism and right wing dictatorships are historical phenomena, each with their own individuality, and none of them has the attribute of eternity or eternal return. To understand them in their own context and the various relationships between them, the book takes a comparative approach. Comparative history, warned Marc Bloch, one of its founders, is useful if it studies the differences more than the similarities. This book proposes comparative history at its best.” (Emilio Gentile, Professor Emeritus, University of Rome, Italy) “By taking seriously ultra-nationalistic conservative ideologies of the past, this gem of a book comes at a time when the world seems overwhelmed by populist leaders.” (Marc Olivier Baruch, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), France) From the Back Cover This book provides a comparative study of fascisms and reactionary nationalisms. It presents these as transnational political cultures and examines the dictatorships and regimes in which these cultures played significant roles. The book is organised into three main sections, focusing on nationalists, fascists and dictatorships in turn. The chapters range across French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German experiences, and include a broader overview of the political cultures in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Latin America. The chapters consider the identities, organizations and evolution of the various cultures and specific political movements, alongside the intersections between these movements and how they adapted to changing contexts. By doing so, the book offers a global view of fascisms and reactionary nationalisms, and promotes debate around these political cultures. About the Author Ismael Saz is Professor of Contemporary History at the Universitat de València, Spain. Zira Box is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Universitat de València, Spain. Toni Morant is Lecturer in Contemporary History at the Universitat de València, Spain. Julián Sanz is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the Universitat de València, Spain.