Customer Reviews

Homeland: Into a World of Hate

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An interesting and well written book. Many thanks to the author Nick Ryan - this vivid account of his experience with the far right took me right out of my comfort zone. Thank you!

This book is unique: in it, the journalist Nick Ryan ventures inside a dizzying array of white supremacist, neo-nazi and ultra-nationalist movements, recording his experiences and encounters over a six-year period.

As a powerful, and sometimes downright disturbing, introduction to the lives of those in the radical right, it's unequalled. What it's not is an essay or historical analysis of the growth of right-wing extremism. Then again, the author never claims it is. It's clearly a standalone journey, as much Ryan's story as that of the people he meets.

If you want to know who the people actually are behind the burgeoning right-wing movements, 'Homeland' is the place to find them. The links between the lowliest 'lone wolf', to the most elevated political figures, are sometimes startling, particularly when Ryan finds himself invited out to Beirut for an international conference of Holocaust deniers. It can't have been easy going on some of these journeys.

The book is also written in a series of pacy, gripping vignettes, more like a novel at times than non-fiction. But I found this made it an easier read: at over 300 pages, I finished it during one long weekend!

Overall, 'Homeland' is a furious, unsettling - but I would say essential - book, in which the writer clearly threw a part of himself. As a study of the underbelly of modern society, and frustrated identity, I would highly recommend it to anyone curious about our times.

Many people would like to think that this sort of thing is no longer a problem, but the sad truth is that racism on both sides of the atlantic is back on the rise and in this book, Nick Ryan risks his life to show us exactly how bad things are.

It may not be pleasant reading at times, but it's a book that has to be read.

Ryan clearly knows what he is talking about, having spent extended periods with these dangerous individuals and groups. He writes thoughtfully and honestly. One can see the amount of research that has gone into this book. It's powerful, evocative and and very visual, even cinematic at times. An important book of our time.

Homeland is a strange book. Of itself it is quite readable (I read over a weekend). The book is the personal retelling of the author's various formal and informal interviews and encounters with key individuals worldwide within the far/extreme right. Included are high ranking members within the BNP (including current leader Nick Griffin), Combat 18, the AFBNP, the Worldwide Church of the Creator and Kingdom Identity Ministries along with many more.

Whilst Ryan could have done more to distinguish between the and the extreme right he does show that there are a lot of mostly informal ties and alliances that link each other often milling around the issue of holocaust deniers encapsulated in the work of revisionist David Irving. As I have said though there is a tendency to assume guilt by association. For instance reading the survey of the Vlaams Blok (and based solely on what Ryan has written)I find it hard to label them anything other than ultra-conservative. In my opinion (as a lefty) still wrong but not necessarily racist. The same can (perhaps?) be said of Ryan's discussion with Pat Buchanan and his Reform party in the USA. One of the most appealing aspects of this book is its honesty in presenting the human face of the far/extreme right. These people are often intelligent and friendly (albeit as long as you are not Other) and one the surface at least genuinely likable although some such as the Worldwide Church of the Creator's Matt Hale (aka Pontifex Maximus) seems nothing more than an absolute ignoramous (other words spring to mind but being a public review are probably best left unsaid).

The book does however have some drawbacks. Whilst the book is described on the cover as being a piece of social history this seems to be lacking. First, the book in many cases does not even attempt to remain neutral. Hence when talking of David Copeland the London nailbomber Ryan...Whatever the undoubted truthfulness this is hardly the stuff of historical objectivity. Perhaps my major gripe however is the almost total lack of historical context or general critique of the right. Is increasing globalisation really to blame for the rise of the far right as many of its proponents seemed to claim? Is there a point at which nationalism is not racism? And other such questions are just not discussed. This was surprising because implicit in all of the reporting is the conviction that Ryan's politics is antithetical to those he interviewed yet he never answer why this is so.

Overall as an insight into a radically different way of thinking of this subculture this book is interesting. However, much more was said unsaid than said. Therefore, I get the unfortunate feeling that the BNPs statement that the liberal press does most of its work for them is also true of Ryan. A lot of the book is made up of these fascist/neo-nazi/nationalist figures detailing their beliefs with no substantive critique on Ryan's part making me suspect some may be tempted to join some of these movements through Ryan's work. Hope I'm wrong, however.