American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others
by John George, Laird M. Wilcox     

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Midwest Book Review
This consideration of militias, supremacists, klansmen and others examines the foundations of hate crimes and movements which are on the fringe of social acceptance and American politics. From social and psychological analysis of individuals who join such movements to summaries of the history of various movements since the 1960s, this provides an excellent account.

Amazon Reviews

A brilliant but incomplete look at political extremism, October 16, 2005
Reviewer: R. England
John George and Laird Wilcox present an extensive and surprisingly non-biased look at movements considered extreme compared to the standard liberal-conservative spectrum. The book examines the histories and personalities behind a host of marxist-leninist, religious fundamentalist and white supremacist organizations.

While the actual descriptions of the organizations are interesting, the book's real strength is in its analysis of the history of extremist movements and looks at what motivates people to join. Various theories explaining the attractiveness of extremist movements to certain types of people are explored. Perhaps best of all, the authors recognize that extremism is a matter of "style and tactics more than goals." The kinds of emotionally laden thinking, logical falicies and argumentative tactics that extremists tend to employ are analyzed. Yet the tone of the authors is generally non judgemental and they are quick to recognize the dangers of dismissing or worse, suppressing the rights of extremists. Repeatedly throughout the book the authors defend the rights of people to hold controversial views and warn of the dangers of violating the rights of those who hold unpopular opinions. Furthermore, in a day and age marked by liberal dominance over academic discourse, the authors are pleasantly centrist and without dogma or agenda. They are both equally hard and equally gentle with both left and right wing beliefs.

Yet the book is incomplete, especially in its treatment of the far left. The vast majority of leftist organizations looked at are Marxist-Leninist groups, which are quite dated in modern progressive thought. The authors concede that "Extreme radical feminists or environmentalists, for example, may be as "extreme" in their behaviors as the most dedicated Marxist Leninist" but do not look at a single such organization. Militant Minorities, Deep Ecology, Anti-War, Radical Feminism, Gay Pride, Postmodernism and Anarchism each command far more intellectual and activist vigor than Marxist Leninism, yet the only groups promoting any of the above discussed are the Black Panthers and possibly the Students for a Democratic Society. The omission of such groups as Earth First! or the Radical Feminist "Off Our Backs" collective makes their study of the political left incomplete.

On the subject of ideologies, there is a surprising lack of information about the precise beliefs of the groups studied. Far more is said about the histories and personalities of the groups, and some inclusion of each group's doctrine or "statement of principles" would have been nice. While any half way educated person probobly knows what a nazi or a communist believes, some inclusion of the doctrines of the groups examined would have rounded off the study rather nicely.

Yet the flaws are minor and the strengths are far more considerable. This book is essential for anyone seriously interested in radical thought in America today.

An Outstanding and Informative Work, February 19, 2004
Reviewer: John D. Miller, Ph.D.
This book is the definitive work for anyone who wants to know about extremists in this country. I notice that one reviewer described the book as "tedious." I cannot agree. The book was extremely well researched, well written, and fascinating from one end to the other. A must read.

Definitive Work, February 16, 2004
Reviewer: A reader
When future American historians and political scientists look back at political extremism in the last half of the twentieth century, this is the book to which they will turn. It is thoroughly detailed and meticulously researched; in short the definitive work on this subject.
The following groups, along with their leaders, are covered.

THE FAR LEFT

Communist Party USA
Socialist Workers Party
Black Panther Party
Students for a Democratic Society
Progressive Labor Party
Revolutionary Action Movement
Revoluntionary Communist Party
Communist Workers Party

THE FAR RIGHT

Reverend Billy James Hargis and his Christian Crusade
The John Birch Society
The Christian Right
Willis Cato and Liberty Lobby
Robert Bolivar DePugh and the Minutemen
The Militias
Gerald L. K. Smith and Christian Nationalist Crusade
The LaRouche Network
Jewish Defense League
The Nation of Islam
Assorted Neo-Nazis
National States Rights Party
Ku Klux Klans

Appendix 1 contains 36 pages of fake quotes and forged documents extremists are fond of using.

Appendix 2 contains a handy guide for extremist watchers and lists their common characteristics and differences. It also lists some mainstream organizations which are sometimes considered extreme, but really are not.

A sample paragraph, from page 48 of American Extremists:

"McCarthyism existed on a half-truth. There were Communists in the United States and some of them were entirely anti-American and would like to do in our system of government. For the most part, however, the Communists, real or imagined, were of no significant security threat to our country. What was a greater threat was the witch-hunting and official and unofficial persecution of these people as heretics. One of the worst things extremists can do to a society, usually without intending to, is to cause it to overreact and burn down the barn to catch the rat, so to speak. The net effect of domestic extremism has been negligible. The net effect of attempts to exterminate it have been quite telling, a legacy that haunts us to this day."

"American Extremists" is the favorite book in my library, and, outside of the dictionary, the most useful.

Extremism., March 30, 2002
Reviewer: Prometheus "zosimos"

This book is an exposee of some of the groups judged "extreme" by the authors on the far left and far right. These include communists, socialists, black nationalists, militias, white supremacists, Jewish extremists, Klansmen of various sorts, NeoNazis, and various religious fundamentalists. Fortunately, the authors do not take the smug politically correct stance that is taken by many academics writing about this topic. We learn that indeed the communist parties (CPUSA, for example) were likely linked to the Soviet Union. We learn that the militias are largely not racist. And, we are told that the events of Waco and Ruby Ridge were indeed totalitarian power plays. A decent account of some conspiracy theories is given as well. Overall, this book provides a much more objective view of "extremism" than is usually given by the politically correct in academia.

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