Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and The Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund, Updated Second Edition

In the late 1930s, the German–American Bund, led by its popinjay dictator Fritz Kuhn, was a small but powerful national movement in pre-World War II America, determined to conquer the United States government with a fascist dictatorship. They met in private social halls and beer garden backrooms, gathered at private resorts and public rallies, developed their own version of the SS and Hitler Youth, published a national newspaper and?for a brief moment of their own imagined glory?seemed poised to make an impact on American politics. But while the American Nazi leadership dreamed of their swastika nation, an amalgamation of politicians, a rising legal star, an ego-charged newspaper columnist, and denizens of the criminal underworld utilized their respective means and muscle to bring down the movement and its dreams of a United Reich States. Swastika Nation is a story of bad guys, good guys, and a few guys who fell somewhere in-between. The rise and fall of Fritz Kuhn and his German-American Bund at the hands of these disparate fighters is a sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing, and always compelling story from start to finish. This updated edition includes newly uncovered material, plus an introduction by the author. In our post-Charlottesville era, the story of the German-American Bund is more relevant than ever, the subject of new documentaries, news stories, and other discussions by people who care about the future of our democracy.