A review by ameliareadsstuff
How to Spot a Fascist by Umberto Eco, Richard Dixon, Alastair McEwen

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

I primarily bought this small paperback to read Eco's 1995 essay Ur-Fascism, which was a great read, and articulates very strongly how fascism can be both nebulous and very easily recognised. Eco's list of the fourteen properties of 'ur-facism' is well observed, even if how many have become or remain important tenets of major political parties today turns towards the depressing.

I also enjoyed Censorship and Silence—its discussion of drowning out an idea or truth with noise as being as effective a form of censorship as forcibly silencing someone has been distressingly born out in the 21st century.