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Editorial Review:
This comprehensive popular history of the occult background and roots of the Nazi movement shows how the ideas of a vast international network of late 19th- and early 20th century occult groups influenced Nazi ideology, from Madame Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley to the Thule Gesellschaft, the Order of the Golden Dawn, the Order of the Eastern Temple, and the pseudoscientific expeditions to Iceland and Tibet of the Ancestral Heritage Research and Teaching Society. Nazi appropriation of the occult was a weird farrago of astrology, Freemasonry, racism rooted in occultism and popular European folklore (the Cathars, the Holy Grail, the Knights Templar, the Arthurian legends). It also traces the Nazi movements as they continued their activities after the war (the Nazi ratlines to South America, the Colony of Righteousness in Chile) or "morphed" into neo-Nazi, skinhead and satanic groups such as the Christian Identity and White Aryan Resistance movements.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Very good read, unusual information!:
I picked up this book after first hearing about the Nazi occult practices in a Germanic Mythology lecture in college, and wow, was there a lot of information that the mainstream histories leave out. Before that class and reading this book, I had no clue how the ancient Germanic and Viking religion was transported from the 19th century into the modern times, and this book did a lot of filling in that blank.more info
Reader beware:
I was about to purchase this book because of the interesting subject matter. When noticing the foreword by Mr Norman Mailer and then remembering his political positions I felt the need research some more. Later I noticed Sinister Forces with a foreword by Paul Krassner and I could begin to see a pattern developing.
more info Excellent research!:
Although I could go on and on, like the other reviewers, I'll try to keep this short. Peter Levenda did extensive research for this book, and its obvious looking at the bibliography. There was a lot going on in the world before and during WWII, and this book really opened my eyes as to how many significant events were inspired by the occult and superstitions. I always viewed historical texts focused on this particular time frame as very dry and dull, but this book really got down and dirty with the alterior... more info Horrible research and poorly formulated arguments:
As other reviewer have mentioned, Levenda contradicts his own conclusions and arguments in this book; arguments formed by poor research and untrustworthy sources. Similar Products:
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