Great Research, Concise Writing

This is a definitive look at the German-American Bund, a pro-Nazi group contemporaneous with that in Germany in the '30s and '40s. It focuses on Fritz Kuhn, the groups leader.

Individual chapters are clear and concise. The writing is always interesting and that makes the book very easy to read. There are a few people who move in and out of the book, but for the most part it is easy to keep track of everyone because the book is very compartmentalized.

One chapter focuses on one event or one person, the next chapter on the next event or next person. However, there are quite a few chapters that don't seem to line up exactly with the German-American Bund. For example, one chapter details the personal life of Walter Winchell, an influential journalist who is mentioned throughout the book but whose life is very tangential. Another chapter discusses the early life of several gangsters. While they fought against the Bund, their childhood was not necessarily important to it. However, fans of popular history will enjoy those tangents as interesting asides in an interesting time.

One topic that could have been made a little more clear is what Fritz Kuhn wanted from the German-American Bund. It is not clear if he wanted to be a vanguard for the Third Reich, a secessionist, a terrorist, or the leader of a new nation. It would have been interesting to learn more about this. It also would have been interesting to learn more about the Bund's connections with other racist groups, including the klan. We learn about the mutual "emotional support" the two groups provided, but little more.

Bernstein does a good job pulling these different characters together to make a whole narrative, even when the details are not necessary to the historical goal of the book: describing the Bund. The research looks very complete. Bernstein cites newspapers, FBI documents, scholars, and everyone in between. This coupled with the clear writing makes it a great book for armchair historians, students, and anyone interested in this era.

In short paragraphs at the end of the book, readers learn the fate of the various tangential characters as they aged into the second half of the century. An afterward briefly mentions Kuhn's and his associates influence on historical revisionism in the modern world. "Swastika Nation" also has a fantastic, very complete index. ( )

A somewhat disappointing history of the American Nazi movement. Because it focuses primarily on Fritz Kuhn, it does not discuss many of the other Nazi sympathizers in the USA. ( )

Fascinating look at the rise and fall of the American Nazi movement German-American Bund in the 1930s and 40s.

The movement centered on a megalomanic, Fritz Kuhn, a German-born American citizen who admired Hitler and pursued the creation of a Nazi America. The stunning thing about this is that he had many on his side - including Henry Ford.

The group's antisemitism was a factor that attracted many to the cause. So was the idea of "Aryan" purity and German nationalism.

The book also is about out those that dared to challenge him - many of whom were Jewish newspaper columnists, such Walter Winchell, and Jewish criminals, such as Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. Their involvement in bringing the movement down was a surprising angle.

I took off one star for one simple reason: the repetitive use of the title in every chapter. Fritz Kuhn sought to establish his Swastika Nation, we're reminded again and again. Look, I get that Bernstein likes his title, but why does he have to say that as though Kuhn really was seeking to establish something called "Swastika Nation"? It's annoying.

Otherwise, a good book about a forgotten chapter of American history. ( )

Swastika Nation is the story of the German American Bund and its leader Fritz Kuhn in pre World War II times. Kuhn was a trained chemist and also a thief, he stole money from the Bund treasury to keep his many mistresses, he was eventually tried and imprisoned in Sing Sing for embezzlement. He had once worked for Henry Ford who who was known as an anti-Semitic.
The historical research and storyline were wonderful and the characters although sleazy were written with great care.
Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martins for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Considering that the inspiration of this book was a viewing of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" it's no surprise that Arnie Bernstein plays up the Jewish-American opposition to Fritz Kuhn's American Nazi Party-in-waiting; ranging from journalist Walter Winchell, to politician Fiorello LaGuardia, to the Jewish elements of American organized crime. With such a raffish and colorful cast of characters to work with, not least of which being Kuhn himself, one can argue that Bernstein is having too much fun telling this tawdry story. While I'm not going to hold this against Bernstein it does make me want to read a more serious book on the topic to put the more colorful anecdotes and allegations in context. ( )