Shakespeare’s Fascist Followers : Modern Friends

‘Richard Wilson’s meticulously researched, powerfully argued and brilliantly written account of Shakespeare’s 20th-century fascist followers is not just an important but a genuinely essential book.’ Robert Shaughnessy, Guildford School of Acting, UKIn this illuminating book, Richard Wilson demonstrates how in the 20th century Shakespeare and his plays were subjected to a misreading which served the purposes of proto-, present and future fascism.It exposes how Shakespeare was misappropriated by the far right to represent Britain’s supposedly glorious history, and the ways in which they utilized him and the cultural capital of his work.Wilson’s extensive and rigorous research also gestures beyond Britain, taking in case studies from North America, Germany and France. Some of the names this book unearths will surprise: many of the right-wing political views or leanings of the prominent figures discussed have been left unexplored or ignored.This book provides in-depth case studies of a wid