Hitler’s American Friends by Bradley W. Hart is a fascinating and eye-opening dive into a lesser-known part of U.S. history. It examines the pro-Nazi movements that existed in America during the 1930s and 40s, and how close these groups came to gaining real influence. Hart’s research is thorough, and he brings to light some truly shocking facts, showing that the threat of fascism wasn’t confined to Europe.

The book is well-written and accessible, making a potentially dry subject really engaging. It’s not just for history buffs—anyone interested in politics or understanding how extremist movements gain traction will find this both chilling and insightful. While it can be a bit dense in spots, overall, it’s an important and timely read.

It's always been a failing of the left-wing political folk to see the Apocalypse in each and every thunderation from the Christo-Fascist Right as the ongoing battle for the USA's soul continues. There are now, there were in the 1950s, there were in the 1930s and 1940s, traitorous scum whose personal vision of a Perfect World contains only people like them, who are willing to do anything legal or not to enforce their will on the eternal majority who don't want that. In an article in The Nation , the author of the think piece I've linked to comments most saliently on the Red Scare years' school-textbook battles, book burnings, and other such performative outrage with this pithy remark:
Most Americans don’t think that proponents of critical race theory are secretly spreading “Marxism” in the schools, either, or that woke corporations are somehow supporting the same evil project. The people who make such claims are a small minority, just as they were in the 1950s.

The fact is that our country's been under some form of internal attack from fascist and/or authoritarian right-wing rabble since Day One. So has every other political structure. Let's not forget the fate of Periclean Athens. It's the eternal project of greedy, selfish control freaks to get everything they can into their own hands and to control what they can't possess.

Author Hart made a well-researched and -written alarm call against calm, resigned acceptance of the culture coup attempted during the 45th president's term in this book. He uses the well-documented and clearly overcome existence, activities, and failures of Nazi sympathizers in the US. It is an effective technique; it uses as its organizing principle a simple structure: Each chapter is dedicated to a single organization active in promoting German/Nazi interests in the US, and gives some crucial details about how and why this choice was made. It also characterizes and puts into timely context the people who made up the institution in question. This avoids a common trap in histories of zeitgeists or social movements, the dreaded alphabet soup of initialism and too-similar or too-often-repeated names. That admittedly more synthetic approach can weave a tapestry of details. It more often than that causes severe MEGO disease.

The most disturbing take-away of this entire loudly rung tocsin is that these forces of anti-democratic rage failed because they lacked a credible, powerful leader. Today's versions, it is very frightening to realize, do not suffer from that lack. It isn't that Author Hart is unaware of this, it's that he seemed to feel he shouldn't make as much of the echoes I heard in each chapter of current events as I would've preferred. There is something to be said for taking off the gloves and hitting the enemy within hard. It's something "they" do a lot of (see my review of The Obama Hate Machine ) and with a lot less factual basis than Author Hart presents.

Why this book only gets four stars from me is the quite startling number of uncorrected typos that made it from the DRC I read into the library copy I checked out. Scandalous! And, in the end, there were moments that I found myself not quite satisfied with the case the author made for some person or organization's motivation for opposing the US entry into WWII. Mixed motives are more common than pure ones on every gradation of the ideological spectrum, as (for example) morally based pacifism is present among right-wingers, too.

Perhaps the most telling thing that I noticed go underremarked was the utter ineffectuality of Hoover's FBI in going after right-wing terrorism. Red Scare propaganda against our nominal allies the Soviets was rife. How telling that is...British intelligence informed the US government better about domestic threats than Hoover's FBI.

I was still angered and unsettled and unnerved by this read. I am recommending it to all and sundry who think the Right's victory in the 2022 midterm elections is somehow inevitable. We who do not wish to have our country scourged by the hypocrites and religious nuts of this book's modern counterparts should heed Author Hart's dictum: "{U}nfortunately, the merchants of hate always seem to have someone to listen to them." Let's plug the holes in our national awareness. It can only help the side dedicated to the rights and duties of citizens against the Right's attacks on them.

I have read a lot on Hitler, WWII, the Holocaust, the member of Hitler's Inner Circle, but this was my first read into his American sympathizers. During WWII we like to think of America as a place that was totally different than Germany, however, there was antisemitism here in the USA. It is always good to take-in different views when you are dealing with something as horrible as WWII and the Holocaust. I am glad I read this book and give it a solid 5 star review.

The style is somewhat workmanlike, but the scope of this study is fascinating: examining the many layers of American investment in Nazi beliefs and politics (and to a lesser extent, Nazi investment in America: the failure of a serious policy in this area is one of those nice historical accidents you don't appreciate until a light is shone upon it). From German immigrant bunds, Senate politics, student groups, and undercover agents, this is both an overlooked space of study - a story America doesn't like to tell about itself - and an interesting story of might-have-beens and thankful failure.

A very interesting book. I think a lot of people forget how divided the US was prior to Pearl Harbor. Many people were just fine or even supported Hitler and this book spells out exactly who they are. Very timely given our president.

This book took me by surprise. I was not sure how I was going to feel about it, but ended up loving it! Full of facts and information - a must-read for anyone interested in World War II and Hitlers path to power!

Fascinating read about those who sympathized with Hitler before and during WWII. I knew of some of them (Lindberg, Ford Motors), but was surprised by others (Coca-Cola, GM). This is extremely well-researched and I highly recommend to any WWII or history buffs.

This was a well-researched, easy to read work. The only problem I had was I felt like I had read it before. I think this work will be great for those that want an easily accessible work about the topic, but for those with prior knowledge it may seem repetitive.

Comprehensive review of organizations in early America who supported the political ideation of Hitler & Nazism. I was disappointed the author did not review current American organizations, as this is a culturally significant time for their resurgence.

This book is hard to swallow but a part of a much-needed discussion.
It defiantly has the makings of white supremacist movement rallies or the implicit enforcement of jim crow laws in this country.
One of the most striking experts in this book is when, two of the biggest names in American politics at the time: aviator-turned-celebrity-political-activist Charles Lindbergh and Montana Senator Burton K. Wheeler, an isolationist and Roosevelt opponent, headlined an event. , a rally of sorts for the time. Both men were given a nationwide radio audience the night of this event that numbered in the millions, Both used this platform to denounce there fellow Americans they claimed were trying to drag the country into the European war, and told the audience that “America has nothing to fear from foreign invasion, provided it has the right leadership.” Even if Britain were to fall under the boot of German oppression, they said, America would be “strong and mighty enough not to worry about its defense from any invader.” These crowds supported these sentiments and loudly booed every mention of President Roosevelt, members of his cabinet, and the British ambassador. Lindbergh received a four-minute standing ovation, and both events seemed to be a massive success. What made it a success in part was that even Nazi sympathizers in America postponed their events to listen to these talks.
Its just mind boggling how they not only approved of Hitler and his European invasion, some Americans welcomed the thought that America could be under German rule. This was even after America entered the war.
While this is not a light read of historical events by any means, it is another layer to WWII history and will hopefully be as much of a deterrent as it is informative.

Support for Hitler in WWII from Surprising Places in the US

In 1941, the country was divided. Some people supported Hitler, some wanted to avoid war, and some wanted to support Britain. The opening to Hart’s book details the three perspectives on WWII. I found it fascinating. Being too young to remember the news, I found that there were many things I had missed in the lead up to WWII.

Britain assuredly wanted the support of the US and had agents, including those from IM6, operating in the country. What I didn’t realize was how organized the Nazis were in the US. Hart’s chapters discuss the Nazi organizations that were in the US prior to WWII. They include information of the Bund, a primarily German organization; the Silver Legion; The Religious Right, primarily Father Coughlin’s Christian Front; senators who supported Nazi Germany to keep the US out of the war; businessmen who supported the Nazis for profit; students who were sucked into the Nazi propaganda through their universities; America First, which supported Charles Lindberg; and the spies who stole military secrets to support the German regime.

The book is easy to read and is supported by copious research. If you’re interested in the pre-WWII era in the US, you will enjoy this book. I found it particularly interesting because I didn’t realize how divided the US was prior to WWII. One tends to think of the divides of one’s own era, but this book suggests that we have always been a people who think for themselves which leads to social divides.

I recommend this book. It’s well written; we’ll researched; and will give you a view of America at at another crossroads.

I received this book form Net Galley for this review.

This book was eye opening to me because it talks about Americans who actually sympathized with the Third Reich and Hitler. They were openly anti-semetic and even excluded Jews and others from organizations! There were major players in the business world who held same beliefs and book also compares our political climate today and back then. I found book very informative and interesting!

Wow, this was an incredibly enlightening piece on those who sympathised with Adolf Hitler both before and during the Second World War, these include politicians, businesses (Coca-Cola, Ford & General Motors), celebrities (Charles Lindberg) and even university campuses wanted to cultivate Nazi feeling. This is not a new idea, and it has been known for many decades that there were hardcore supporters of the Nazi's and their dangerous and deadly anti-semitism, who were American citizens. Although these are not new revelations, it is evident that Professor Hart has carried out meticulous research into this particular topic in an effort to bring the truth to the masses. He also states that this book comprises primarily recently declassified information, so a substantial portion of this work has never before featured in a publication. Prof. Hart is considered an expert on the intricacies of the Nazi's and associated topics with this being his third such book published.

I imagine that much of this information will reveal a sinister and rather unsavoury side of America to people mostly unaware of it, but I always appreciate those that strive to bring this important information to the mainstream population and the public consciousness. This certainly could've been a dry and tedious discussion, however, Hart writes a a comulsively readable style that is accessible and in-depth, but manages to avoid the cardinal sin of overwhelming his audience by way of one huge information dump. This will no doubt be shocking to a lot of people, but we must always remember things are never as they seem at the time, and it's only through works such as this that we discover the relatively unknown part of the lead up to WWII.

Highly recommended to those interested in the Nazi war machine, WWII and 20th-century politics. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting read, and I thank the author for taking the time to compile such an exceptional study.

Many thanks to Thomas Dunne Books for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Professor Hart has written an excellent, concise account of Americans who supported, and in some cases, actually conspired with Nazi Germany prior to World War II. The first two of eight chapters deal with the German Bund and the Silver League, organizations who had thousands of members. Though these organizations were very vocal, Hart reveals that, for all their noise, they were the least effective in helping Germany achieve its goal of keeping America out of the European War.

The German Bund never really could unite its membership. Some chapters were no more than social organizations which celebrated German culture and others were extreme supporters of Hitler’s ideals. These members dressed in distinctive uniforms emulating the SA and sent their children to Nazi-inspired summer camps, some actually in Germany. But because of the flawed leadership, the Bund and the League never really presented a serious threat in their own right and their antics only irritated Nazi Germany whose purpose was to keep America neutral, not alienate its citizenry with obvious pro-Nazi displays.

The Religious Right with its access to the popular medium of radio was quite another matter. Millions of Americans listened to Catholic priest Father Charles Coughlin spew his anti-Semitic beliefs every week. His loyal listeners believed that he was one of them and he played on their fears about how it was Jewish businessmen, in cahoots with President Roosevelt, who controlled the economy in the country and kept the hard-working average citizen from getting ahead.

Hart examines the government officials like Senator Burton K. Wheeler from Montana who pushed the isolationist policies and the universities which still encouraged academic relationships, like foreign exchange studies, even when the atrocities in Germany were common knowledge.

I found the most disturbing chapter to be the analysis of complicit US businesses. The bottom line for the companies was profit so Ford and GM kept their German factories open using forced labor to produce trucks and tanks for the Reich. They collected their profits at the war’s end and only years later compensated the forced laborers. Coca-Cola invented Fanta for the German market because the original syrup could not get through British navy blockade. Montgomery Ward, Sears, Quaker Oats, and other companies did not give up their German ties until after Dec 7, 1941.

Finally, there was the most dangerous organization America First. The chief spokesperson for praising Hitler’s Germany and preaching isolation, if not active support, was Charles Lindbergh. America First had 800,000 active members (as compared to the German Bund at 5,000) and there was a possibility that it could push a presidential candidate in Lindbergh who would give Roosevelt a real challenge.

Why is this study so relevant now? According to Professor Hart, quoting from a letter written by Lord Lothian the British Ambassador, this was Germany’s Plan, “…Cast doubt on the integrity of newspapers and newpapermen who favor the Allied cause… Start attacks along religious and racial lines. Keep the people of the United States fighting among themselves, and play to the keep-out-of-war sentiments of the people by painting the horrors of war." (p. 7)

Finally, the author states why ultimately Germany failed in its attempt to keep the United States isolationist. “For whatever their flaws then and now, America’s political parties and leaders rose to the challenge presented by this moment in history. In many cases, politicians made the difficult decision to act on principle and patriotism rather than out of political expediency and the pursuit of victory at any price. The far right never could find its American fuher…The American political system survived a series of major existential threats at a moment when the fate of the free world hung in the balance. In the face of such courageous stands by America’s leaders, Hitler’s friends never stood much of a chance.”

This book is composed of seven chapters with each concentrating on a specific group (Amereica First, Politicians, The Bund, etc.). I have some knowledge of Nazi sympathizers in the United States leading up to and during World War II, but as promised by he author there is substantial new material that I was not aware of occuring during this time period. The book is well documented and the author's writing style makes it easy to follow. I appreciate his devoting a single chapter to each group rather than bouncing around between groups which I have run across in the past with other history based books. The author was also able to present the material without moralizing the subject which I also appreciated.

I recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the events leading up to and during World War II in the United States.

I received a free Kindle copy of Hitler's American Friends by BradleyW. Hart courtesy of Net Galley  and St. Martin's Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazonand my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as the description interested me and I have read a great deal about World War II, but not on this subject.  This is the first book I have read by the author.

Hitler's American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States is an interesting read. I give it four stars.

A very interesting read about a very scary time -- various politicians, businessmen, and more colluding with and profiting from working a foreign government.

While Hart could have made this a moralizing tale about that time and this one, he largely refrains from doing that and instead offers an informative and readable look at a dark side of US history. While many people may think the German-American Bund and other such organizations along with Nazi sponsored sabotage missions were the primary threats, Hart shows that U.S. politicians (the isolationists primarily), labor leaders, corporations, and more were drawn into supporting the Nazi cause for their various reasons. American corporate icons such as Coca-Cola, Ford, and GM, while being patriotic on the homefront, also aided and abetted the enemy -- and amassed fortunes at the same time. Politicians sent out thinly disguised Nazi propaganda using their government franking privileges. And more.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who is interested in WWII, pre-war America and the isolationist movement, antisemitism in the US, and so on.

A very good book, marred in ways that perhaps deserve a mention, but not enough to force it to be seriously downgraded. If like me you knew nothing of American university campuses' efforts to inspire Nazi feeling in the 1930s, nothing of Charles Lindberg being found out as an anti-Semite, and nothing at all of Fanta's derivation as a result of the machinations of war, this is the book for you. Yes, I knew America held some feeling for Little Ol' Adolf – a certain car manufacturer was certainly working along the same Jew-bashing lines – but this on the whole contained very much a new story. In perfectly reasonable 30pp chunks we get different looks at aspects of the times, and whether it be the USA's own Nazi groups, influencers on Capitol Hill or downright Nazi spies, they all have their own section of the narrative. But the flaws come in here – while the book has one narrative, the chapters have their own individual ones, which would make it repetitive enough; unfortunately what I call micro-repetitions are prevalent in every chapter, so we find certain facts drummed in too much, in introduction, in the flow, and in summary. Likewise, I swear I have read biographies of people who namecheck the titular subject less commonly than this book regularly uses a variant on the phrase 'Hitler's American friends'. They're never sympathisers, potential collaborators, or any other turn of phrase – always American friends.

That would be seen to cheapen and diminish a sterling academic work, but I can't rip shreds in this, for it's a mighty book. To repeat (ha, ha), a lot was new to me, and the author claims to have concentrated on new, and newly-declassified, sources for much of his history. This then is going to be perfect for many an academic – copious notes and bibliography, and I dare say a full index that was still forthcoming in my ARC. Despite the aforementioned, this was inherently readable, and – in taking an aside to something very much of personal interest I hadn't really considered and certainly hadn't read about – was right up my Strasse. If you know of a better book on this subject I'd like to hear about it; I can only place this top of a very small pile. Four and a half stars.