Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a political theorist recently retired from the University of Toronto. Around fall 2014, I became aware that a hyper-energetic, well-educated intelligentsia was trying to move heaven and earth to make fascism intellectually respectable again. I resolved to educate myself about these scary characters. I was truly alarmed, and wrote my book to convey my alarm to fellow citizens who hadn’t yet woken up to the threat. Sure enough, within a couple of years, Richard Spencer rose to media stardom; and one of the first things that Trump did after being elected in November of 2016 was to decide that a crypto-fascist Steve Bannon was worthy of a senior position in the White House. 


I wrote

Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right

By Ronald Beiner,

Book cover of Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right

What is my book about?

In Dangerous Minds, I trace the deepest philosophical roots of such right-wing ideologues as Richard Spencer, Aleksandr Dugin, and…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Seduction of Unreason: The Intellectual Romance with Fascism from Nietzsche to Postmodernism, Second Edition

Ronald Beiner Why did I love this book?

A strong case can be made that Richard Wolin got the jump on the rest of us with respect to appreciating the continued relevance of the Nietzsche-inspired intellectual far right. The first edition of Seduction of Unreason was published in 2004, 14 years before I published my book. I’m humbled by the fact that it took me so long to wake up to the fact that what was dangerous about Nietzsche in the 20th century remains dangerous today.

By Richard Wolin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Seduction of Unreason as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ever since the shocking revelations of the fascist ties of Martin Heidegger and Paul de Man, postmodernism has been haunted by the specter of a compromised past. In this intellectual genealogy of the postmodern spirit, Richard Wolin shows that postmodernism's infatuation with fascism has been extensive and widespread. He questions postmodernism's claim to have inherited the mantle of the Left, suggesting instead that it has long been enamored with the opposite end of the political spectrum. Wolin reveals how, during in the 1930s, C. G. Jung, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Georges Bataille, and Maurice Blanchot were seduced by fascism's promise of political…


Book cover of Nietzsche's Corps/e: Aesthetics, Politics, Prophecy, or, the Spectacular Technoculture of Everyday Life

Ronald Beiner Why did I love this book?

Waite’s book is an often brilliant account of how Nietzsche (and Heidegger too) have duped the philosophical and cultural Left. The book is too long, and also often unwieldy and self-indulgent. Yet it contains many gems. Part of what I was trying to do in my book was to make some of Waite’s best insights accessible by writing a much shorter, more punchy book.

By Geoff Waite,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Nietzsche's Corps/e as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Appearing between two historical touchstones-the alleged end of communism and the 100th anniversary of Nietzsche's death-this book offers a provocative hypothesis about the philosopher's afterlife and the fate of leftist thought and culture. At issue is the relation of the dead Nietzsche (corpse) and his written work (corpus) to subsequent living Nietzscheanism across the political spectrum, but primarily among a leftist corps that has been programmed and manipulated by concealed dimensions of the philosopher's thought. If anyone is responsible for what Geoff Waite maintains is the illusory death of communism, it is Nietzsche, the man and concept. Waite advances his…


Book cover of Heidegger: The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy in Light of the Unpublished Seminars of 1933-1935

Ronald Beiner Why did I love this book?

Faye’s book has been extremely controversial, exposing him to sometimes quite nasty attacks by Heidegger apologists. But with respect to the core of what his book is about—the pro-Hitlerite seminars given by Heidegger during the years when he was most closely aligned with the Nazis—it’s an absolutely devastating account. The book is a must-read. Should be read in conjunction with Charles Bambach’s 2003 book, Heidegger’s Roots.

By Emmanuel Faye, Michael B. Smith (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Heidegger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the most comprehensive examination to date of Heidegger's Nazism, Emmanuel Faye draws on previously unavailable materials to paint a damning picture of Nazism's influence on the philosopher's thought and politics. In this provocative book, Faye uses excerpts from unpublished seminars to show that Heidegger's philosophical writings are fatally compromised by an adherence to National Socialist ideas. In other documents, Faye finds expressions of racism and exterminatory anti-Semitism. Faye disputes the view of Heidegger as a naive, temporarily disoriented academician and instead shows him to have been a self-appointed 'spiritual guide' for Nazism whose intentionality was clear. Contrary to what…


Book cover of Black Wind, White Snow: Russia's New Nationalism

Ronald Beiner Why did I love this book?

Clover offers an extremely thorough account of the specific sources of Dugin’s ideology (“neo-Eurasianism”). See also Nicholas Goodricke-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity, for a comprehensive survey of the various kinds of 20th-century lunacy kept alive in our own day by an influential maniac like Dugin.

By Charles Clover,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Black Wind, White Snow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A fascinating study of the motivations behind the political activities and philosophies of Putin's government in Russia

"Part intellectual history, part portrait gallery . . . Black Wind, White Snow traces the background to Putin's ideas with verve and clarity."-Geoffrey Hosking, Financial Times

"Required reading. This is a vivid, panoramic history of bad ideas, chasing the metastasis of the doctrine known as Eurasianism. . . . Reading Charles Clover will help you understand the world of lies and delusions that is Eurasia."-Ben Judah, Standpoint

A powerful strain of Russian nationalism now lies at the heart of the Kremlin's political thinking:…


Book cover of War for Eternity: Inside Bannon's Far-Right Circle of Global Power Brokers

Ronald Beiner Why did I love this book?

There are multiple reasons to be wary of Teitelbaum, as I attempt to sketch in a review essay on War for Eternity that I published in Inroads and in a subsequent exchange I had with him in the same journal. But with respect to fathoming some of the bizarre connections among all these crazies—Dugin, Bannon, Jorjani, etc.—the Teitelbaum book is a very valuable resource. It’s also fun to read, despite the grimness of its topic.

By Benjamin R. Teitelbaum,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked War for Eternity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of Financial Times' Summer Books of 2020

An explosive and unprecedented inside look at Steve Bannon's entourage of global powerbrokers and the hidden alliances shaping today's geopolitical upheaval.

In 2015, Bloomberg News named Steve Bannon “the most dangerous political operative in America.” Since then, he has grown exponentially more powerful—and not only in the United States. In this groundbreaking and urgent account, award-winning scholar of the radical right Benjamin Teitelbaum takes readers behind-the-scenes of Bannon's global campaign against modernity.

Inspired by a radical twentieth-century ideology called Traditionalism, Bannon and a small group of right-wing powerbrokers are planning new political…


Explore my book 😀

Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right

By Ronald Beiner,

Book cover of Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right

What is my book about?

In Dangerous Minds, I trace the deepest philosophical roots of such right-wing ideologues as Richard Spencer, Aleksandr Dugin, and Steve Bannon to the writings of Nietzsche and Heidegger—and specifically to the aspects of their thought that express revulsion for the liberal-democratic view of life. Beiner contends that Nietzsche's hatred and critique of bourgeois, egalitarian societies has engendered new disciples on the populist right who threaten to overturn the modern liberal consensus. Heidegger thoroughly rejected the moral and political values that arose during the Enlightenment and came to power in the wake of the French Revolution. Understanding Heideggerian dissatisfaction with modernity, and how it functions as a philosophical magnet for those most profoundly alienated from the reigning liberal-democratic order, should give us insight into the return of the far right.

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Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

By Elizabeth Randall, William Randall,

Book cover of Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Elizabeth Randall Author Of Fire is the Test of Gold

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

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Elizabeth's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Tourists and local residents of St. Augustine will enjoy reading about the secret wonders of their ancient city that are right under their noses. Of course, that includes a few stray corpses and ghosts!

Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

By Elizabeth Randall, William Randall,

What is this book about?

It is no wonder the ancient city of St. Augustine is steeped in secrets. St. Johns, the oldest continuously occupied county in America celebrated its 450th birthday on September 4, 2015. More like a European enclave than an urban landscape, it is a place of cannon fire, street parties, historical reenactments, concerts, and more. From admiring replicas of fine art at Ripley’s Believe or Not, to hunting haunts in restaurants and museums, to eating ice cream from a recipe originated by World War II bombardiers, St. Augustine has it all from beaches, gourmet dining, festivals, and attractions. A young and…


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