''Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy'' is a non-fiction book by Talia Lavin. In the book, Lavin describes a project of inventing online personae that allow her to meet and expose

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

white supremacists who gather in online chatrooms and websites; the book also traces the historic roots of these contemporary phenomena. ''Time'' named ''Culture Warlords'' one of the 100 must-read books of 2020.

Publication history

Lavin, who is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and the grandchild of

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

, became motivated to investigate the topic following white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, where "Jews will not replace us!" was a rallying cry. This may be in reference to the

white genocide conspiracy theory The white genocide, white extinction, or white replacement conspiracy theory is a white nationalist conspiracy theory that claims there is a deliberate plot (often blamed on Jews) to cause the extinction of white people through forced assimila ...

. In March 2019, Lavin sold ''Culture Warlords'' to editor Paul Whitlatch at

Hachette Books Hachette Books, formerly Hyperion Books, is a general-interest book imprint of the Perseus Books Group, which is a division of Hachette (publisher), Hachette Book Group and ultimately a part of Lagardère Group. Established in 1990, Hachette pu ...

. It was published on October 13, 2020.

Content

Lavin invented online personae, which allowed her to gain entry to white supremacist websites and chatrooms, gathering information for journalists and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

activists. The book describes these present-day encounters while also tracing “the distant and near history of the

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

, from the medieval European

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

’s mainstreaming of anti-Semitic ideas to

Gamergate Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized online misogyny, misogynistic online harassment campaign motivated by a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the ...

and the stories of a radicalized adolescent

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

.”

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called the book a "bracing and wide-ranging look at the internet as a breeding ground for racism and misogyny. Readers with a strong stomach for hateful ideology will find plenty of harrowing takeaways." ''

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, non ...

'' gave ''Culture Warlords'' a

starred review A starred review is a book review marked with a star to denote a book of distinction or particularly high quality. A starred review can help to increase media coverage, bookstore placement and sales of a book. Outlets that published starred review ...

and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' named it number one in the “hottest new book releases” for the week it was published. Writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Jennifer Szalai said, "One of the marvels of this furious book is how insolent and funny Lavin is." In her review for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', Kate Tuttle notes that while other books treat similar material, Lavin's work "feels particularly insightful, perhaps because she understands so deeply both the modern idiom in which these bigots operate today and their historic roots in race science, eugenics, and anti-Semitism." ''Time'' named ''Culture Warlords'' one of the 100 must-read books of 2020.

References

External links

*
Going Undercover on a Racist Dating Site
– excerpt published in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

''
"Conspiracy theories about Soros aren’t just false. They’re anti-Semitic."
in ''The Washington Post'' {{Alt-right footer 2020 non-fiction books Books about race and ethnicity Books about antisemitism Books about the far right Hachette Books books Works about white nationalism