''Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America'' is a book written by

Kathleen Belew Kathleen Belew is an American tenured associate professor of history at Northwestern University, and an international authority on the White supremacy, white-power movement. She is the author of ''Bring the War Home, Bring the War Home: The White ...

Background

Kathleen Belew is an American tenured

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

of history at Northwestern University, and an international authority on the white-power movement. Belew argues in the book that the modern white power movement emerged from the loss of the Vietnam War. The book discusses the Oklahoma City bombing, Ruby Ridge, the Waco siege and the Greensboro massacre. Belew points out that it was during the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan that the white power movement began to truly coalesce. She also observes that

Louis Beam Louis Ray Beam, Jr. (born 1946) is an American white supremacy, white supremacist, conspiracy theorist and neo-fascism, neo-fascist. After Secondary school, high school, he joined the United States Army and served as a helicopter door-gunner in ...

was one of the earliest proponents of white power and the concept of a

leaderless resistance Leaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a Rebellion, social resistance strategy in which small, independent groups (Clandestine cell system, covert cells), or individuals (a solo cell is called a "Lone wolf (terrorism), lone wolf"), ch ...

. The book rejects the idea that white supremacist violence is only done by lone wolves. Although the book was written before the Unite the Right rally, it provides a history of the movements that lead to the rally. Belew traces William Luther Pierce and his 1978 novel '' The Turner Diaries'' to the rise of white supremacists. Chapter seven presents evidence to support the involvement of women in white supremacist groups like the

Aryan Nations Aryan Nations is a North American antisemitic, neo-Nazi, white supremacist organization that was originally based in Kootenai County, Idaho, about miles (4.4 km) north of the city of Hayden Lake. Richard Girnt Butler founded the group i ...

. The book also discusses the history of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

Reception

Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook wrote in ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' that "this necessary work reminds readers that white violence—on behalf of, and against, the state—has a long and deep history." Patrick Blanchfield wrote in '' The Nation'' that the book is "Meticulously researched and powerfully argued." Amy Cooter criticized the book in '' Reason'' for characterizing the militia movement as an outgrowth of the

white power movement White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

. The book was included in '' The Guardian'''s list of the best books of 2018.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674286078 2018 non-fiction books English-language books Racism in the United States Books about race and ethnicity in the United States Books about fascism Harvard University Press books