To Catch a Fascist
The Fight to Expose the Radical Right
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
“Absorbing.” —THE NEW YORKER, BEST BOOKS OF 2026
A searing, provocative investigation into the rise of white nationalist and neo-Nazi movements in the United States, centered on the anti-fascist groups working to expose and stop these hateful factions.
Demonized as “extremist” by conservatives and liberals alike, “antifa” became a bogeyman during Donald Trump’s first term. But few Americans understood the dangerous work antifa was doing to disrupt and unmask a new generation of white supremacists or listened when antifa sounded the alarm about these white supremacists taking positions of power. Now this underground network of militant anti-fascists is determined to stop the rising tide of fascism in America. No matter the cost.
In the tradition of in-the-room investigative classics such as The Smartest Guys in the Room and Bad Blood, To Catch a Fascist follows different factions of antifascists as they work to unmask hateful extremists before they commit devastating acts of violence. With searing detail and exclusive reporting, To Catch a Fascist paints a vivid picture of the stakes in this ongoing, often unseen war between opposite ends of the political spectrum, highlighting the scrappy resourcefulness and resilience of anti-fascist movements against their increasingly violent adversaries. Utilizing razor-sharp storytelling and eye-opening insight, this timely and necessary book reveals the human cost, moral dilemmas, and unwavering determination involved in fighting white supremacy.
Both a call to action and a pulse-raising look at the powerful work being done to combat today’s gravest threat to democracy, To Catch a Fascist will inspire you to fight for your community.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Mathias's urgent, eye-opening debut delves into antifa's extralegal efforts to dox white nationalists. A "decentralized... network of militant leftists," antifa is typically depicted as a bunch of extremist agitators or an elaborate fairy tale. But the very real organization's primary, underreported work, Mathis explains, is "naming and shaming" pseudonymous members of groups like Identity Evropa or Bowl Patrol (creepily named after mass shooter Dylann Roof's "bowl cut hairstyle"). While placing antifa in a lineage of lefties who, in past eras, unmasked KKK members and got into street fights with skinheads, Mathias mostly focuses on the present, documenting the group's investigative tactics, from online sleuthing to perilous undercover operations. The latter accounts for the book's most gripping segments, as Mathias follows antifa spy Vincent during five months he spent embedded in Patriot Front, formerly Vanguard America (renamed to obscure its connection to the 2017 Unite the Right rally). Appointed his chapter's "official photographer and videographer," Vincent surreptitiously surveilled the group and downloaded a whopping 440 gigabytes of their data. While Vincent's infiltration is told with thrillerish tension, Mathias also highlights the mostly "obsessive" and "tedious" work behind doxing, which culminates in the exposure of white nationalists "in real positions of power," including high school teachers, members of the military, and a State Department official. It's a by turns heart-pounding and heartening glimpse of the fight against fascism in the shadows.
