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A review by samarakroeger
How to Spot a Fascist by Umberto Eco, Richard Dixon, Alastair McEwen
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
the first essay is by far the best (Ur-Fascism), and also makes up a bulk of this tiny book. it really did help me clarify why I struggled to define Italian Fascism with a specific set of values or ideologies, unlike most other totalitarian or authoritarian regimes. I've been reading a lot of post-war Italian literature lately (and also George Orwell's political essays), and this essay collection is the perfect complement.
the other two essays in the book, Censorship and Silence and We Are European, are not nearly as strong. they do succeed in being quite thought-provoking, and are interesting given that Eco wrote them in 2011/2012 and the political climate in Europe has certainly shifted since then. it would be interesting, were he still alive, to hear Eco's take on a post-Brexit Europe and on an America saddled with Trumpism.
the other two essays in the book, Censorship and Silence and We Are European, are not nearly as strong. they do succeed in being quite thought-provoking, and are interesting given that Eco wrote them in 2011/2012 and the political climate in Europe has certainly shifted since then. it would be interesting, were he still alive, to hear Eco's take on a post-Brexit Europe and on an America saddled with Trumpism.