While most analyses of the French National Front (NF) see it as a threat to democracy, the exact nature of this threat has never been clearly defined. Drawing on interviews with leading far-right figures and access to internal party documents, this book identifies the NF as a modern fascist party. The authors produce an uncompromising assessment of attempts to confront the NF and explain how it emerged as the leading challenger to a discredited mainstream in the 2002 presidential election.
'It is crucial to understand what kind of party the National Front is and how it was built, and to overcome some of the weaknesses which have so far marked the oppostion to...On all these questions Peter Fysh and Jim Wolfreys have provided the clearest, most detailed and sharpest analysis yet.' - Paul McGarr, International Socialism
'This is a refreshingly combative book, which provides a lively and readable account of the emergence and consolidation of the Front national, its impact on French politics and the efforts of its opponents to stem its progress. The narrative is underpinned throughout by a vigorous line of argument which challenges some of the prevailing orthodoxies erected by leading French analysts in the field.' - Brian Jenkins, Modern and Contemporary France
'This is a refreshingly combative book, which provides a lively and readable account of the emergence and consolidation of the Front national, its impact on French politics and the efforts of its opponents to stem its progress. The narrative is underpinned throughout by a vigorous line of argument which challenges some of the prevailing orthodoxies erected by leading French analysts in the field.' - Brian Jenkins, Modern and Contemporary France