Hitler's Priestess

''Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and Neo-Nazism'' is a book by British historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. It is a biography of fascist writer and esotericist Savitri Devi, who was influential on the development of esoteric neo-Nazism, and her connections with international neo-Nazism. It tells her life story primarily chronologically. ''Hitler's Priestess'' was first published by New York University Press in hardcover in 1998, and in paperback format in 2000. It was the first in-depth study of Savitri Devi and her life. The book received largely positive reviews from critics.

Background and publication history

It was published by New York University Press in hardcover in 1998 and in paperback in October 2000. Its author, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, is a British historian. He had previously published a book on the relationship between occultism and Nazism prior, ''The Occult Roots of Nazism''. The book was the first in-depth study of Savitri Devi and her life.

Contents

The book recounts Savitri Devi's life, beliefs, and legacy and influence on neo-Nazism, paricularly esoteric neo-Nazism. Her life story is largely told chronologically, though sometimes digresses to tell the stories of related people. It begins with her childhood and origins, including an early dislike of Christianityu's influence on Western civilization, before her move to India and resulting conversion to Hinduism, and her relationships with Hindu figures of the time.

He writes of her support of Hitler during World War II and her spying for the Axis powers. It recounts her life following the war, including her connections with British neo-Nazi Colin Jordan and the ODESSA plot, and neo-Nazis worldwide. It also discusses and recounts the arguments presented in her books, including ''Defiance'' and ''The Lightning and the Sun''. It concludes the biography wioth her death in 1982.

In the conclusion, Goodrick-Clarke argues that Savitri Devi's legacy is an important influence on the neo-Nazi overlap with deep ecology, esoteric and New Age movements, and noted that though these had left-wing roots they were infiltrated by the far right and that these were all at odds with "Christianity, rationalism and liberalism", adding that:

Reception

''Booklist'' noted the book positively, saying Goodrick-Clarke had done "a fine job revealing Devi's strange and, ultimately, brutal personality". ''Publishers Weekly'' praised it as providing "plenty of information and insight about this little-known but influential figure", saying the most interesting material in it was the contents about her writings; the writing was however noted as "stiff and matter-of-fact". Daniel K. Blewett writing for ''Library Journal'' praised it for showing one of the "many oddities" of "the whole terrible Nazi experience", calling it useful for understanding the ideology of neo-Nazis; they deemed it suitable but not essential for libraries.

Jeffrey Kaplan writing for ''Nova Religio'' called Goodrick-Clarke a "uniquely qualified biographer" of Devi, and praised the work as a "remarkable intellectual biography". He singled out the coverage of her Hindu activism as "thoroughly researched", and argued Goodrick-Clarke was at his best in his coverage of her writings. Kaplan said the book's conclusion was "controversial", where "the author’s distaste for the anti-rationalism represented by this convergence is clear". For the ''Journal of Contemporary Religion'', Susan Hector wrote that it was "quite simply an excellent book", praising its research, specificity, and objectivity; she called it "ground-breaking" and said many should read it. She said the way Goodrick-Clarke showed how Savitri Devi had arrived at her positions was especially good.

References

Further reading

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{{Savitri Devi

1998 non-fiction books
American biographies
Biographies about writers
Books about the far right
Books by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
English-language non-fiction books
Hindu nationalism
Neo-Nazism in popular culture
New York University Press books