Dave Renton, This Rough Game: Fascism and Anti-Fascism

What is fascism and why has this form of reactionary mass politics continued to win support? In this new book, David Renton traces the rise of European fascism in the inter-war years.  The book examines key issues in the history of the left-right conflict, including the condition of Weimar Germany, the character of British fascism, the Battle of Cable Street, and the early life of Adolf Hitler.

Equally importantly, the author considers the work of inter-war anti-fascists, men like Albert Einstein, the members of the International Brigade who went off to fight against fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and the wide range of anti-fascist artists whose ‘degenerate art’ was later banned by the Nazis. Recent neo-fascism in Europe and America is explored, along with the historical links between fascism, nationalism and identity.

For the general reader who wants to follow the history of fascist parties and the opposition to them, this is the ideal book. While the academic literature on fascism is large, there is no other general history which understands fascism so clearly from the viewpoint of those who fought it.

This book was published in May 2001 by Sutton Publishers, Stroud, 2001. ISBN 0750925159. £20.

Review: Paul Cunningham, Amazon.co.uk, 3 June, 2001.

Much of this work is very interesting and essentially sound in its analysis. However, the section dealing with the re-emergence of mass anti-fascist movement in the UK in the 1970s is fundamentally flawed. While Rock against Racism undoubtedly prevented punk rock from evolving into a far-right trend, it was set up by SWP members, and cannot be considered a spontaneous movement. Equally, the Anti Nazi League was established by the Central Committee of the SWP, and was not particularly popular with many of that organisation's membership. The whole chapter on the 1970s simply does not ring true to someone like myself, who was politically active at that time

Review: Steve Silver, Searchlight, December 2001.

Fashion dictates that fascism should be viewed with impartiality. Historians pick over one of the most written-about topics in human history as they discuss sometimes banal points about the most evil movement of the twentieth century. If there is an opposite to this approach, then This Rough Game is it. Dave Renton takes an unashamedly anti-fascist stance, arguing that the best way to approach the study of fascism is by looking at its record.
Renton contends that the ascendant school of fascism studies, which places emphasis on fascist ideas, is not the best way of understanding the phenomenon. In opposition to what he sees as a methodology based in the idealist tradition, he argues that fascists need to be understood by their deeds, rather than their words. This is where the title of the book comes from. It is a reference to something that Oswald Mosley used to say to his son Nicholas. Apparently, he would publicly rebuke individual Blackshirts for the violent activities and then grab their arm or give them some other sign to indicate that it was alright really. When asked by his son why he did this Mosley would just say it was a "rough game".
Each chapter of this book covers a different topic, so the book reads more like a collection of essays than one seamless narrative. This is no bad thing, and allows the author to cover considerable territory: from the meaning of the Holocaust, and women and fascism, to anti-fascist politics of Albert Einstein.
Looking at the causes of fascism Renton makes an assault on the theory of "exceptionalism" that is often used to describe why some countries saw fascists take power while others did not. He shows how every country has exceptional features, and makes a convincing case against the theory that a particular nation, such as Germany, is predisposed towards fascism.
In a chapter on women and fascism Renton lashes out at those who have recently argued that the fascist movements had some kind of "feminist" attributes. He argues that the fact that thousands of women idolised Hitler and Mussolini does not mean that the regimes in any way operated in the interests of these women. A comparison is made with Islamic fundamentalism today, where, he says, it would be seen as ridiculous to argue that Islamic fundamentalism operated in the interests of women, even though women are among its strongest supporters.
Renton's general analysis comes from a particular left tradition that draws on the ideas of Leon Trotsky. It is not an unsophisticated analysis and, perhaps surprisingly, he is not as unsympathetic to the then constituent parties of the Communist International that he views as "Stalinist" as are others who share this tradition. However, chapters that look at the Spanish Civil War, and to a lesser extent the Battle of Cable Street, do denigrate the activities of the Communist parties. With regard to Spain, Renton like the film maker Ken Loach, elevates the "Marxist" POUM to some kind of anti-Stalinist paragon of virtue. Later in the book, there is a chapter on the original Anti-Nazi League in Britain in the 1970s. A rather less critical approach is adopted here, whereas others have made almost exactly the same criticism of the Socialist Workers Party's role in the ANL as Renton makes of the CP's role in the 1930s. Many Searchlight readers would no doubt make a very different analysis of the reasons why the ANL was disbanded in the early 1980s from the one presented in this book.
Having said that, these are relatively minor criticism of a book that has a fresh feel and gives a much needed left perspective on the key contemporary debates surrounding fascism. The left has often avoided discussion of the Holocaust itself for example, but here we find a strong point of view on a subject which has seen much debate over the past few years. Well written and easily accessible, the book has a consistent theme namely that these are not just topics of obscure historical interest, but contain lessons with resonance for today.
Unusually, Renton has included reviews with British anti-fascists just after the Second World War. They are used to endorse what is a central thesis of the book: to understand fascism, let the anti-fascists speak. This perspective, that fascism should be seen as "a relationship between one movement and its opponents", should be welcomed by all anti-fascists. This is the strongest reason why This Rough Game is a welcome addition to the anti-fascist bookshelf.