Introduction

Abstract

Shaffer’s introduction explores the significance of youth and music in post-war British fascism. Drawing on exclusive oral histories from National Front (NF) and British National Party activists, the introduction lays out the international impact the British skinhead subculture had on domestic and international radicals. Moreover, it discusses how music was the initial mechanism for fascist youth to make international alliances and contacts, which took surprising turns with contact from the governments of Iraq and Libya. The book argues that while British fascism failed to make a significant electoral impact or reshape British politics, strands of British fascist thought were exported internationally and had cultural influence in and beyond the United Kingdom.