Socialism of Fools

Michele Battini is professor of modern history and the history of politics at the University of Pisa, and 2015 visiting professor at Columbia University of New York and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

• Acknowledgments Introduction 1. "Is the Palestine Capitalist Here?" 2. European "National Socialism" and Its Propaganda 3. The Dark Core of Italian Civilization: Fascism and the Path of Paolo Orano 4. An Interpretation of Anti-Jewish Anticapitalism 5. The Shoah, Social Anti-Semitism, and Its Aftermath Notes Index

A lucid, passionate book on a deeply disturbing subject and a thoughtful analysis of left-wing anti-Semitism throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Michele Battini's nuanced historical approach is a welcome antidote to a deeply rooted perception of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism (different but undoubtedly related phenomena) as transhistorical entities. -- Carlo Ginzburg, University of California, Los Angeles Offering learned readings of a wide array of sources in the aftermath of Jewish emancipation, Socialism of Fools persuasively situates the era's anti-Semitic ideas and movements within the larger context of Europe's economic, social, and political transformations and offers a provocative coda about current conundrums. -- Ira I. Katznelson, author of Desolation and Enlightenment: Political Knowledge After Total War, Totalitarianism, and the Holocaust (Columbia University Press). This is an extraordinarily interesting and original book that will appeal to historians, political theorists, and scholars of cultural studies, religion, and Jewish studies. Battini engages with the vast primary and secondary literature with such mastery that he leaves the reader feeling well and truly informed. -- Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University Socialism of Fools is an erudite and important book on the nature of modern anti-Semitism as seen through the words, thoughts, and ideas of anti-Semites. Thoughtful, insightful, enlightened, and based on intense scholarship, Battini's voice is much needed in the context of current debates on the history of anti-Semitism. -- Robert Fine, University of Warwick This academic work by Michele Battini demands the full attention of the reader. Every sentence counts and the reader is rewarded by astute insights and detailed explanations. It is an important and highly interesting book. Fathom Journal Sophisticated argument and enlightening discussion Choice