Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege is now available on Routledge! You can buy a copy here:
www.routledge.com/Neo-Nazi-Terrorism-and-Countercultural-Fascism-The-Origins-and-Afterlife-of-James-Masons-Siege/Sunshine/p/book/9780367190606
By Spencer Sunshine
paperback, 484 Pages
Published May 7, 2024 by Routledge
ISBN 9780367190606
A new wave of aspiring neo-Nazi terrorists has arisen—including the infamous Atomwaffen Division. And they have a bible: James Mason’s Siege, which praises terrorism, serial killers, and Charles Manson. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism, based on years of archival work and interviews, documents for the first time the origins of Siege.
First, it shows how Mason’s vision arose from debates by 1970s neo-Nazis who splintered off the American Nazi Party/National Socialist White People’s Party and spun off a terrorist faction. Second, it unveils how four 1980s countercultural figures—musicians Boyd Rice and Michael Moynihan, Feral House publisher Adam Parfrey, and Satanist Nikolas Schreck—discovered, promoted, and published Mason. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism explores a previously overlooked period and unearths the hidden connections between a countercultural clique and violent neo-Nazis—which together have set the template for today’s Neo-nazi terrorist underground.
It is obligatory reading for those interested in contemporary terrorism, postwar countercultures, and the history of the U.S. Far Right and neo-Nazism.
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“Spellbinding in a revolting yet masterful way.”
Chip Berlet, co-author of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort
“Spencer Sunshine’s new book Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism is a tour de force for understanding America’s contemporary white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements. It teases out the largely unexplored history of this movement’s last 50 years, and provides the definitive account of how James Mason’s Siege became the leading tome for today’s Far Right extremists. The book is filled with details from the movement’s major and minor players, much of which has never been documented. This is a must read for those who want to understand our country’s history of white supremacy and the nature of the movement today.”
Heidi Beirich, co-founder, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism
“Sunshine has written the definitive book that exposes and links the old guard of American neo-Nazism to the modern day (and beyond) wave of white-power terrorism. A fascinating read!”
Christian Picciolini, author of White American Youth: My Descent Into America’s Most Violent Hate Movement—and How I Got Out
“It is rare to find a study that combines grassroots anti-fascist research with the tools of scholarly analysis. Spencer Sunshine’s detailed and discerning book examines neo-Nazism as a social movement and takes seemingly obscure ideas seriously, bringing critical attention to the history of countercultural crossover with the radical right. Anybody concerned with the incongruous resurgence of supposedly fringe political phenomena will learn sobering lessons from this book.”
Peter Staudenmaier, Marquette University, USA
“The deepest dive yet into the godfather of modern neo-Nazi terrorism, told through the rare lens of James Mason’s own writings. This book is essential reading to those hoping to understand the origins and nuances of violent right-wing extremism today.”
Jared Holt, Senior Research Analyst, Institute for Strategic Dialogue
“Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism is a tour de force of research which sheds light on the previously ignored intersection of American neo-Nazism and esotericism.”
Michael Barkun, author of Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America
CHAPTERS
Preface & Introduction
Part I: #ReadSiege
1. A Twenty-First Century Siege: How the Rediscovery of an Obscure Neo-Nazi Book Helped Inspire A New Generation of White Supremacist Terrorism
Part II: Life Among the Sects (1959–1986)
2. The Party of Rockwell: The American Nazi Party and NSWPP
3. Joseph Tommasi’s NSLF
4. A Tangled Web of Neo-Nazis: David Rust’s NSLF, the NSM, the White Confederacy, and the National Socialist Congress
5. Allen Vincent’s NSWWP and John Duffy’s Shadow NSLF
6. Karl Hand’s NSLF
Part III: SIEGE the Newsletter (1980–1986)
7. The SIEGE Itself: Cult of the Extreme
8. Charles Manson as Neo-Nazi “Holy Man”
9. Universal Order as Idea and Organization
10. Life After SIEGE
Part IV: Countercultural Fascism (1986–1995)
11. The Abraxas Clique and Countercultural Fascism
12. Boyd Rice: Neo-Nazi Collaborator
13. Adam Parfrey: A Neo-Nazi’s Best Friend
14. Michael Moynihan: From Mason-Manson-National Socialism to Decentralized Ethno-separatism
15. Nazi-Satanism: Nikolas Schreck and the Church of Satan
Part V: Siege the Book (1989–1995)
16. The Book and the Reception
Part VI: Coda (1995–2017)
17. From Prison to Revival
18. The Lessons of Siege
Part VII: Appendices
Appendix 1. The NSM After Mason: Brannen, Herrington, Schoep, and Beyond
Appendix 2. The Original NSLF and David Duke: Big Nazi on Campus
Appendix 3. Gary/John Jewell and Perry “Red” Warthan: From Anarchism to National Socialism
Appendix 4. In Praise of Murder Men: Serial Killers, Mass Murderers, and Lone Wolves
Appendix 5. Christianity: Jesus, Hitler, Rockwell, Manson, and UFOs
Appendix 6. Women, Gay Men, and Extreme Pornography
Appendix 7. Against Capitalism and the Liberal State: The Left, Third Positionism, Islamists, and Racial Separatism
Appendix 8. Robert N. Taylor and Thomas Thorn
Appendix 9. Michael Merritt and Keith Stimely
Appendix 10. Varg Vikernes and the Heathen Front
Appendix 11. The Satanic Temple: The Lasting Influence of the Abraxas Circle
Spencer Sunshine 