Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front

Product Description

The forgotten history of American terrorists who, in the name of God, conspired to overthrow the government and formed an alliance with Hitler.On January 13, 1940, FBI agents burst into the homes and offices of seventeen members of the Christian Front, seizing guns, ammunition, and homemade bombs. J. Edgar Hoover’s charges were incendiary: the group, he alleged, was planning to incite a revolution and install a “temporary dictatorship” in order to stamp out Jewish and Communist influence in the United States. Interviewed in his jail cell, the front’s ringleader was unbowed: “All I can say is―long live Christ the King! Down with Communism!”In Nazis of Copley Square, Charles Gallagher provides a crucial missing chapter in the history of the American far right. The men of the Christian Front imagined themselves as crusaders fighting for the spiritual purification of the nation, under assault from godless Communism, and they were hardly alone in their beliefs. The front traced its origins to vibrant global Catholic theological movements of the early twentieth century, such as the Mystical Body of Christ and Catholic Action. The front’s anti-Semitism was inspired by Sunday sermons and by lay leaders openly espousing fascist and Nazi beliefs.Gallagher chronicles the evolution of the front, the transatlantic cloak-and-dagger intelligence operations that subverted it, and the mainstream political and religious leaders who shielded the front’s activities from scrutiny. Nazis of Copley Square is a grim tale of faith perverted to violent ends, and a warning for those who hope to curb the spread of far-right ideologies today.

Review

“The rare book by a scholar that is such a page-turner it is hard to put down, Gallagher’s
Nazis of Copley Square is a potent brew of spy story, detective story, and frank, fearless account of how a significant wing of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States spawned a movement aimed at defending Hitler and sabotaging America’s war effort.”
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David I. Kertzer, author of The Pope and Mussolini

“Writing about American Nazi sympathizers who rooted their rage in mainstream Catholic theology poses a remarkable challenge. Pluralist society already has a hard enough time confronting violent hatred underwritten by sincere religious faith; historians writing about such subjects face the second challenge of achieving empathy with their subjects without sacrificing moral opprobrium. Charles R. Gallagher meets both challenges with aplomb―and throws in some thrilling World War II spy stories to boot. Highly recommended.”
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Rick Perlstein, author of Reaganland

“When historians speak of Americans who supported Hitler’s Third Reich, they generally refer to Father Charles Coughlin or the German American Bund. In his excellently researched and rivetingly written book, Gallagher reminds us the danger was more widespread. A movement of far-right American Catholics not only fostered sympathy with Nazism but spread virulent anti-Semitism. The Nazis of Copley Square laid the groundwork for today’s Christian nationalism. When we hear those ideas expressed today, we are shocked. Gallagher demonstrates they have roots reaching back many decades. The danger was real then. And it is real today.”
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Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism: Here and Now

“A virtuoso piece of historical detective work that dramatically enhances our understanding of right-wing (and Catholic) anti-Semitism and radicalism during the turbulent 1930s and 1940s.”
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John T. McGreevy, author of American Jesuits and the World: How an Embattled Religious Order Made Modern Catholicism Global

“An eye-opening look at the Christian Front, a far-right political movement founded in 1939…Gallagher also explains how the Christian Front’s ‘interlac[ing] of Christianity and patriotism’ influenced today’s religious right, and analyzes how political extremists exploit free speech protections. This vigorously researched chronicle uncovers a d