The Dynamics of War and Revolution
New York: Harper & Brothers, (1940). First Edition, suppressed issue. Hardcover. Octavo. xxxi, 259 pages.
Lawrence Dennis—of African American heritage though he passed as white—was regarded as the leading intellectual voice of American fascism in the interwar years. This is a rare copy of his most controversial work, inasmuch as it bears the imprint of the originally intended publisher, Harper & Brothers. Some copies were printed and bound in April 1940 for an intended May release, but Hitler's invasion of France on May 10th caused Harper to cancel publication, fearing the book would be seen as defeatist or "fascist-leaning" as U.S. sentiment shifted toward intervention.
Dennis searched for another publisher but after six weeks without success he bought the plates and the bound copies from Harper and published the book under the imprint of his newsletter, "The Weekly Foreign Letter." Surviving examples with the Harper imprint are rare, with OCLC locating just 3.
Dennis’s work contends that capitalism and democracy, having risen together, were collapsing together under the pressures of debt, unemployment, and global crisis. He argued that war was both inevitable and functional, serving as the mechanism by which societies would reorganize, and predicted that collectivism—whether fascist, communist, or other authoritarian planning—would replace liberal capitalism. While Dennis insisted he was not advocating fascism, he forecast its arrival in America as the next stage of political economy.
Born in Atlanta, Dennis had been a celebrated child evangelist in the 1890s, touring nationally with his African American mother. As a teen he chose to pass as white. He graduated from Harvard, served as a U.S. diplomat, and eventually became the leading American expositor of fascism’s dynamics in the 1930s and 1940s.
Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Bound in burgundy red cloth over boards with gilt-stamped spine titles. No significant wear to book. Light blue jacket printed in red has a short, cleanly closed tear at bottom edge of front panel along with a few shallow edge wrinkles. A very well-preserved copy.
Item #1963
Price: $1,000