Volker Weiß "The German Democratic Reich. How the extreme right is destroying history and democracy"

"In his highly topical book, Volker Wissen offers a profound and historically sound diagnosis of the AfD and the extreme right. He astutely reveals how the far right is driven by the goal of overcoming Western liberalism and imposing an alternative interpretation of history. With new impressive details and an analysis of the right-wing counter-narrative, the author dissects the new right-wing scene.





The extreme right speaks of an intellectual civil war raging in Germany - and which it is simultaneously fueling. This battle is about nothing less than the sovereignty of interpretation over history and the present in order to detach Germany from the West. The contradictory, glorifying and often shrill historical constructions of the extreme right point to one goal: a "German Democratic Reich" as a synthesis of the authoritarian systems of Germany's past. In his book, Volker Wissen follows on from his bestseller "The Authoritarian Revolt" and analyzes these new methods of cultural warfare, particularly in the fields of history and geopolitics. Just in time for the upcoming Bundestag elections, the historian shows the current development of new right-wing thinking. The most important currents and actors are examined, and the author repeatedly broadens his view to include comparable actions by right-wing milieus in Russia and the USA. A clever and unsparing portrayal of the strategic reinterpretation of our history and the targeted destruction of democratic values by the extreme right."


(Publisher's information Klett-Cotta)





1st place non-fiction best list Deutschlandfunk Kultur





SPIEGEL bestseller





Volker Wissen is considered one of the best experts on the new right-wing scene. Born in 1972, the historian worked for many years as a specialist author for DIE ZEIT and ZEIT Geschichte, Jungle World, Frankfurter Rundschau, FAZ, Taz, Spiegel-Online and now writes exclusively for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. His book "Die autoritäre Revolte. Die Neue Rechte und der Untergang des Abendlandes" is considered a classic on the subject.