American Swastika

New York: Doubleday, 1985. First American Edition. Octavo. 21.5cm. Publisher's red cloth spine over white pape covered boards, titled in black to spine. Dustjacket. [xxvii]; 332pp. Light wear to spine ends, some minor scuffing and soiling to the white boards, some chipping of the black titles to spine; internally clean, fore-edge untrimmed; in a clean, strong dustjacket with some minor toning, a little edgewear, and a single short closed tear to the upper edge of the rear panel. A very good, strong copy with some wear and use.

Described as "almost too startling to believe", Higham sets out to expose the close and complex relationship of America with Nazis, collaborators, and supporters of Nazi ideologies. To a modern eye these relationships, while appalling, are pretty well known, ranging from protection of high ranking Nazis from prosecution because of their potential use to the US, all the way to Nazis in Hollywood attempting to create propaganda for the US public, via the exposure to scrutiny of a number of household names like Henry Ford, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, and of course Coco Chanel, who made your average Nazi collaborator look like they were only following orders. At the time of publication however, during the pre-internet 1980's, Higham's carefully investigated disclosures regarding America's favorable relationships with Nazis and Nazi sympathizers was shocking to mainstream audiences. (Inventory #: 84027)