Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism

Reviews / Votes

Sometimes good things come in strange packages. I was looking through Derek Hastings' new book Catholicism & the Roots of Nazism to figure out what his arresting title could possibly mean. Hastings demonstrates beyond doubt that before the failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923, significant segments of Catholic clergy and faithful in Munich were among the most important supporters of National Socialism, very much in tune with its increasing emphasis on Aryan racial supremacy and its contempt for Jews. ...a sound scholarly account of the links between Modernist Catholicism and National Socialism up until 1923. Though the book is provocatively titled, Hastings knows the difference between orthodoxy and Modernism. Specialists will find his work valuable. CatholicCulture.org Hastings's scholarly narrative...connects historic anti-Semitic ideology to the empire that implemented the Final Solution. ForeWord Reviews The interpretation of early Nazism is quite insightful and sheds significant new light. CHOICE An authoritative monograph that has incorporated archival and printed sources to show how the Nazi movement and Catholic identity were intertwined in Bavaria. Catholic Historical Review This remarkable and highly original new book...sheds light on an important and hitherto neglected dimension of the history of National Socialism. Combining different historical approaches, Derek Hastings's lucid, beautifully written and persuasive study examines the party's early history in the local context of the Bavarian capital in light of its relationship with the Catholic Church Anna von der Goltz, German History