The catastrophe and holocaust brought about by the two powerful
movements of fascism and national socialism will mark human life
always. Now, as we feel our hatred for them, we find it difficult to
understand how they could have been so powerful, how they could have
appealed so strongly to millions of people of a modern age.
And the documents whereby we could understand these philosophies have
been lost--except as they are now gathered here in one convenient
volume.
To understand our own times, it is necessary to understand these
movements. And to understand them, we must read the basic
philosophical and political documents which show the force of the
ideas which moved a world to the brink of disaster.