The Turner Diaries: Difference between revisions
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'''God Hates Nazis''' |
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{{infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] --> |
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| name = The Turner Diaries |
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| title_orig = |
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| translator = |
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| image = [[Image:Turnerdiariescover.jpg|200px]] |
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| image_caption = |
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| author = [[William Luther Pierce]] |
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| illustrator = |
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| cover_artist = |
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| country = [[United States]] |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
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| series = 1978 |
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| genre = Fiction |
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| publisher = National Vanguard Books |
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| release_date = 1978 |
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| english_release_date = |
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| media_type = |
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| pages = |
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| isbn = |
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| preceded_by = |
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| followed_by = |
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}} |
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'''''The Turner Diaries''''' is a [[novel]] written in [[1978 in literature|1978]] by [[William Luther Pierce]] (former leader of the white [[Nationalist]] organization [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]]) under the [[pseudonym]] "Andrew Macdonald".<ref name="nyttv" /> ''The Turner Diaries'' depicts a violent revolution in the [[United States]] which leads to the overthrow of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal government]], [[nuclear war]], and, ultimately, to a [[race war]] leading to the [[genocide|extermination]] of all [[Jew]]s and [[non-white]]s.<ref name="ADL-TD">{{cite news | url=http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Turner_Diaries.asp | title=Extremism: The Turner Diaries | publisher = [[Anti-Defamation League]] | year= 2007 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-07-18}}</ref> The book was called "explicitly racist and anti-Semitic" by ''[[The New York Times]]'' and has been labeled the "bible of the racist right" by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. |
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The novel has been associated with a number of real-life violent crimes. Most notably, some have suggested that a scene depicting preparation for the bombing of the [[J. Edgar Hoover Building]], the [[FBI]] national headquarters, served as the inspiration for the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] in 1995 by [[Timothy McVeigh]], who had promoted the book.<ref name='voice1'>{{cite news | first=Ward | last=Harkavy | coauthors= | title=The Nazi on the Bestseller List | date=2000-11-15 | publisher= | url =http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0046,hark2,19825,9.html | work =[[The Village Voice]] | pages = | accessdate = 2007-09-05 | language = }}</ref><ref>{{cite|url=http://www.adl.org/presrele/militi_71/2737_71.asp|publisher=Anti-Defamation League|title=Q & A ON THE TURNER DIARIES|author=Myrna Shinbaum|date=1996-05-16}}</ref> |
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==Impact== |
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The book was called "explicitly racist and anti-Semitic"<ref>[[The New York Times]] [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7D7143CF935A15757C0A963958260 April 26, 1995]</ref> by the ''New York Times'' and has been labeled the "bible of the racist right" by the FBI.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=490 |title=Southern Poverty Law Center |publisher=Splcenter.org |date= |accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref> According to the [[Anti Defamation League]], it is "probably the most widely read book among far-right extremists; many have cited it as the inspiration behind their terrorist organizing and activity."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Turner_Diaries.asp |title=ADL |publisher=ADL |date= |accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref> The [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] calls it a "hate" book.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9908/10/hate.literature/ |title=CNN |publisher=CNN |date= |accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref> |
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The novel was initially only available through [[mail order]] and at [[gun show]]s, and partially serialized in National Alliance publications. As of 2000 it was reported to have sold about 500,000 copies.<ref name='nyttv'>{{cite news | first=Julie | last=Salamon | coauthors= | title= TELEVISION REVIEW; The Web as Home for Racism and Hate | date=2000-10-23 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E4DF1631F930A15753C1A9669C8B63 | work =[[The New York Times]] | pages = | accessdate = 2007-09-05 | language = }}</ref><ref name='sutherland'>{{cite news | first=John | last=Sutherland | coauthors= | title=Gospels of hate that slip through the net | date=2000-04-03 | publisher=Guardian | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/mcveigh/story/0,7369,488284,00.html | work =[[Guardian Unlimited]] | pages = | accessdate = 2007-09-05 | language = }}</ref> |
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==Plot summary== |
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The narrative starts with a foreword set in the year 2099, one hundred years after the events depicted in the book. The bulk of the book then quotes a recently discovered diary of a man named Earl Turner, an active member of the movement that caused these events. The book details a violent overthrow of the United States federal government by Turner and his [[militant]] comrades and a brutal contemporaneous [[race war]] that takes place first in North America, and then the rest of the world. |
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The story starts soon after the federal government has confiscated all civilian firearms in the country under the Cohen Act, and the Organization to which Turner and his cohorts belong goes underground and engages in [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against the System, which is depicted as the totality of the government, media, and economy that is under Jewish control.<ref name="ADL-TD" /> The Organization starts with acts such as the bombing of FBI headquarters and continues to prosecute an ongoing, low level campaign of [[terrorism]], [[assassination]] and economic [[sabotage]] throughout the United States. Turner's exploits lead to his initiation into the Order, a quasi-religious inner cadre that directs the Organization and whose existence remains secret to both the System and ordinary Organization members.<ref name="ADL-TD" /> |
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Eventually, the Organization seizes physical control of Southern California, including the nuclear weapons at [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]]; [[ethnic cleansing|ethnically cleanses]] the area of all blacks and summarily executes all Jews and "[[race traitors]]."<ref name="ADL-TD" /> They then use both this base of operations and their nuclear weapons to open a wider war in which they launch nuclear strikes against [[New York City]] and [[Israel]], initiate a nuclear exchange between the US and the [[Soviet Union]], and plant nuclear weapons and new terrorist cells throughout North America. The diary section ends with the protagonist flying an [[fixed-wing aircraft|airplane]] equipped with an [[atomic bomb]] on a suicide mission to destroy [[The Pentagon]], in order to eliminate the leadership of the remaining [[military government]] before it orders an assault to retake California. The novel ends with an epilogue summarizing how the Organization continued on to conquer the rest of the world and how all people of other races were eliminated.<ref name="ADL-TD" /> |
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==Hate crimes associated with the book== |
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* [[The Order (group)|The Order]], an early 1980s [[white supremacist]] group involved in murder, robberies and counterfeiting, was named after the group in the book and motivated by the book's scenarios for a race war. The group committed one of the biggest highway robberies of all time, then murdered radio host [[Alan Berg]] and engaged in other acts of violence in order to hasten the race war described in the book. The Order's efforts later inspired another group, The New Order, which planned to commit similar crimes in an effort to start a race war that would lead to a violent revolution.<ref>{{cite news |
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| author = Charles Bosworth Jr. |
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| title = Illinois Man Sought Start of Race War, Source Says |
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| work = [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] (Missouri) |
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| publisher = Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc. |
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| page = A1 |
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| date = 1998-03-15 |
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| accessdate = 2007-04-09 |
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}}</ref> |
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John William King was convicted of dragging [[James Byrd]], an [[African-American]], to his death in [[Jasper, Texas|Jasper]], [[Texas]]. As King shackled Byrd's legs to the back of his truck he was reported to have said, ''"We're going to start The Turner Diaries early."''<ref>{{cite news |
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| author = Phil Miller |
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| title = Black Man's Killer Said: 'We're Starting the Turner Diaries Early' |
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| work = The Scotsman |
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| publisher = The Scotsman Publications Ltd. |
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| page = 3 |
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| date = 200-02-23 |
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| accessdate = 2007-04-09 |
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}}</ref> |
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*During the course of a federal trial relating to charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights and assault under color of law of [[Frank Jude, Jr.]] in 2004 by several off-duty police officers in [[Milwaukee|Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], a copy of ''The Turner Diaries'' was found during a search of the home of one of the officers charged and later convicted.<ref>{{cite news |
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| author = Gina Barton |
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| title = Ex-cop linked to rogue group |
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| url = http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=642051 |
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| work = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
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| publisher = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
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| date = 2007-08-02 |
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| accessdate = 2007-08-03 |
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}}</ref> |
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*A copy of ''The Turner Diaries'' was found (amidst other [[Neo-Nazi]] propaganda) in the home of [[Jacob D. Robida]], who attacked a man at a gay bar and then committed suicide in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |
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| author = Thomas Caywood |
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| title = Infamous neo-Nazi literature found in killer's room |
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| work = The Boston Herald |
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| publisher = Boston Herald Inc. |
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| page = 5 |
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| date = 2006-02-08 |
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| accessdate = 2007-04-09 |
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* the turner diaries is also said to have inspired British Neo-Nazi nail bomber David Copeland who launched a three day bombing campaign against Londons bangladeshi,black and gay communities |
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}}</ref> |
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==First and second editions== |
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{{Refimprove|date=September 2007}} |
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''The Turner Diaries'' was first serialized in the mid 1970s in the National Alliance's tabloid paper, ''Attack!''. The first printing in paperback was May 1978. Pierce originally set his story in the 1980s. Its reprinting (September 1980) took the form of a slightly altered second edition that moved the setting forward ten years. Although subsequent printings of ''The Turner Diaries'' have featured different cover art or back cover copy, they have kept to the second edition's text. |
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In keeping with the new 1990s time frame, events in the past are generally aged by ten years, though not always. Some examples: |
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*Turner's diatribe about the "long string of Marxist acts of terror 10 to 15 years ago" is changed to "20 years ago." |
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*Turner's lament at the success of the System's brainwashing "these past 50 years or so" remains unchanged. |
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*The Order's "nearly 58 years of existence" is increased to 68, making the date of its founding 1925, a reference to the [[SS]]. |
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*Turner's astonishment at "how many dark, kinky-haired Middle Easterners have invaded this country in the last decade" is not changed. |
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*The epilogue's exultation that in 1989, "exactly a century after the birth of The Great One... the dream of a White world finally became a certainty", becomes "just 110 years" after Adolf Hitler's birth. |
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Also to make the book fit its later date, prices are usually doubled, and sums of money are also often doubled, but not consistently. |
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The second edition retains one major artifact of the original setting: in the first edition, dates fall on the same day of the week as their real-world 1980s dates. The later edition does not change days of the week, putting them out of sync with their 1990s dates. Another minor change is that a short passage, where Turner's lover spots his Order pendant, is moved a few pages earlier to the end of Chapter X. The first edition also featured illustrations by Dennis Nix. Later printings dropped the illustrations, used a smaller typeface, and switched from bold to italics for emphasis. |
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==See also== |
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*''[[Hunter (Pierce novel)|Hunter]]'', a novel with similar themes also written by Pierce under the "Andrew Macdonald" ''nom de plume'' |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.archive.org/details/TheTurnerDiariesByAndrewMacdonald Turner Diaries By Andrew MacDonald / William Luther Pierce] Online version available for download in PDF format 810K. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner Diaries, The}} |
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[[Category:1978 novels]] |
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[[Category:Fascist books]] |
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[[Category:Antisemitic publications]] |
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[[Category:Fiction books]] |
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[[Category:Dystopian novels]] |
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[[Category:White supremacy in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Novels about guerrilla warfare]] |
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[[Category:Political novels]] |
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[[Category:Novels about terrorism]] |
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[[Category:Works published under a pseudonym]] |
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[[Category:Antisemitism in the United States]] |
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[[cs:Turnerovy deníky]] |
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[[de:Die Turner-Tagebücher]] |
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[[es:Los Diarios Turner]] |
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[[fr:Les Carnets de Turner]] |
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[[id:The Turner Diaries]] |
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[[he:יומני טרנר]] |
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[[no:The Turner Diaries]] |
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[[ru:Дневники Тёрнера]] |
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[[fi:The Turner Diaries]] |
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[[sv:The Turner Diaries]] |
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Revision as of 23:56, 1 May 2010
God Hates Nazis