The Coming of the American Behemoth: The Origins of Fascism in the United States, 1920–1940

Lucid, hard-hitting, rich in historical detail, and passionately Marxist in its dynamic definition of fascism as an “inherent function of monopoly-capitalist production and relations whose telos was and remains the totalitarian rule of capitalist dictatorship,” Michael Roberto’s The Coming of the American Behemoth is a vital and necessary book. Fundamental to fascism, Roberto contends, is the growth of state power in the service of the capitalist ruling class, the reactionary politics of the middle class, and the manipulation of public consciousness by ad-men and PR experts who turn everything and everyone into commodities. All were fascist processes, Roberto shows, “because they aimed at the domination of capital over society.” This book could shift the discussion.

—Paul Breines, co-author with Andrew Arato, The Young Lukács and the Origins of Western Marxism

Marx taught us that it is impossible to deal effectively with the problems of the present without understanding how they evolved out of the past. This would seem to hold in spades for what most people see as the surprising rise of fascism in the U.S. today. Yet, while early European versions of fascism never lacked for the attention of its critics, our homegrown variety, which flourished between the two World Wars, has been almost entirely forgotten. No more, thanks to this absolutely essential contribution by Michael Roberto. Highly Recommended.

—Bertell Ollman, author, Dance of the Dialectic: Steps in Marx’s Method and hundred of books, articles, manuals, and games dealing with Marxism

In this carefully researched study of what contemporaneous US Marxists had to say about 1930s fascist processes, Michael Roberto argues that the essence of fascism—capitalist dictatorship—is entirely compatible with liberal democracy. His thesis not only illuminates Depression-era politics and economics but also carries profound implications for our time.

—Barbara Foley, author, Radical Representations: Politics and Form in U.S. Proletarian Fiction, 1929-1941

The Coming of the American Behemoth is an expertly researched analysis with a startling proposal—that even as conventional fascism took hold in Europe during the roaring 20’s, the Great Depression, and subsequent recessions, a different but no less insidious form of fascism was taking hold in America. This American fascism involved the extreme concentration of money and power in corporate monopolies, bent government policy to serve the nation’s wealthiest citizens, contributed to the suffering of the Great Depression, and also included fascism’s characteristic efforts to control public perception. Author Michael Joseph Roberto claims that the driving emphasis of American fascism was fueled by the wealthiest and most powerful interests, a claim that resonates today. Notes and an index round out this salient, disturbing political piece.

—Midwest Book Review