Major Historical Trends

Fascism

This quarter we will be reading Robert Paxton's The Anatomy of Fascism. Paxton was a professor of history at Columbia University, a noted scholar of modern French history, and a leading authority on fascism in France. In this study Paxton uses the examples of France and Germany to examine fascism's roots, establishment, and subsequent development. A key theme of his study is how fascism has emerged from the wreckage of parliamentary systems that have failed to solve deep-seated problems in a nation's experience.

The book is available from Amazon in a number of formats.

January 23: Chapters 1 and 2

February 6: Chapters 3 and 4

February 27: Chapters 5 and 6

March 13: Chapters 7 and 8

Seminar Leader: Neil Heyman is Professor Emeritus of History at San Diego State University. He earned his BA summa cum laude at Yale and his doctorate at Stanford. He is a specialist in the twentieth-century history of Russia and Germany, World War I, and history through film. He is the author of five books along with numerous articles and reviews.

Presenter Biography