Nazis of Copley Square, Charles R. Gallagher
Nazis of Copley Square, Charles R. Gallagher
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Nazis of Copley Square
The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front

Author: Charles R. Gallagher, Ronald Stassen

Narrator: Rick Adamson

Unabridged: 12 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/11/2023


Synopsis

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.

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, 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.

About Charles R. Gallagher

Charles R. Gallagher is associate professor of history at Boston College. His book Vatican Secret Diplomacy won the John Gilmary Shea Prize from the American Catholic Historical Association.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on September 13, 2021

That's an eye catching title, particularly when the cover flap confirms that it is referring to Boston's Copley Square. I am interested in the story of a ring of dangerous Nazi spies operating out of Copley Square Hotel. This is a history of The Christian Front organization in Boston from the late 19......more

Goodreads review by Christopher on October 13, 2022

Charles Gallagher's Nazis of Copley Square is one of many recent books fleshing out the American fascist groups of the '30s and '40s. In this case, Gallagher tackles the Christian Front, a far-right, mostly-Catholic militia group based in Boston and New York, inspired (though not directly led) by th......more

Goodreads review by Dennis on May 02, 2022

On one level, this is a blow-by-blow history of the pro-Fascist Catholic organization the Christian Front, in its New York and Boston phases, and in its degeneration from self-righteousness and a misguided concept of patriotism to an attempt to overthrown the Roosevelt administration--and from mere......more

Goodreads review by Bill on December 22, 2021

Interesting book when describing the History but Gallagher's linking 1939 Boston to today's Trump got in my way. I was reading Herbert Butterfield's essay "The Whig Interpretation of History" in tandem with this book and would encourage Gallagher to read it too. His History of the Copley Square crow......more

Goodreads review by Nick on March 12, 2022

Back and forth, back and forth, not nearly enough true unknown history.......more