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The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds: An Up-Close Portrait of White Nationalist William Pierce

The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds: An Up-Close Portrait of White Nationalist William Pierce

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An interesting book for readers of all viewpoints.
Review: I am not a white racialist. I say this not because I feel the need to issue this disclaimer for Political Correctness, or out of fear that I may be considered such, but to explain my perspective on the life of William Pierce, head of the National Alliance.

My father was an undergraduate student under Dr. Pierce in the early 1960s and to this day doesn't understand how someone who impressed him as the most intelligent man on campus could have gone on to head an organization such as the Alliance.He did, however, feel that Griffin did a thorough and fair job of setting forth Pierce's belief system. I presented him with this book after having read it three times myself, out of sheer fascination with Griffin's superb, elegantly and straightforwardly written text on this enigmatic figure who my father had spoken of many times in our household. Astonishingly, as my father was describing him in awestruck admiration, Pierce was in the thick of conducting a political and organization-building activity that my father-and many if not indeed most educated Americans-would consider repellent and loathsome.

The formation of Pierce's belief system and the process he followed in translating these concepts into action are well described, as is the genesis of the National Alliance, the white racialist organization Pierce founded and which is considered by anti-racist and civil rights organizations to be the most intellectual and the most dangerous of all such outfits. Along the way, I gained an insight into the working of Pierce's mindset, and I think I understand him and his ideas, his worldview, his sense of life as well as one possibly could without having actually known him.

Although I cannot accept his fundamental thesis of White Supremacy for intellectual reasons, I think that to some extent one has to admire the courage of his convictions, because it is incredibly difficult for a bright young academic with early tenure to leave academia and go forth to promote an idea that obviously will make him an absolute pariah among his former colleagues, students, the media, and society in general. Griffin neither makes apologies for Pierce's views, nor the acts of members of Pierce's Alliance;however, he reports them without clouding them with his judgment. The reader understands fully the facts of life about the National Alliance, including the actions of Robert Mathews and his "Order",which apparently made possible much of the National Alliance's access to facilities.

My only complaint is not with the book's content, but with its physical form: my copy had its covers curl up and fray at the edges within days after it arrived, and the spine split shortly thereafter. I had my copy professionally hardbound, but readers should expect that a book will not disintegrate within a few readings.I hope future printings will be bound with a more durable softcover.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A VOICE THAT WARNS SOMEBODY IS LOOKING.
Review: -
This book is the biography of a philosopher, a thinker, an astute observer/critic, an activist for his people, his history, and his culture: William Pierce, who is too little known in the world today. A graduate of Rice University, Pierce spent a year at Cal-Tech, before earning both a master's degree and a doctorate, in physics, from the University of Colorado. Pierce then taught physics at Oregon State University, where he attained tenure in less than three years.

The title of the book is from a pre-Christian Norse poem, and the cover of the book bears the pre-Christian Norse character known as the "Life Rune," which is the symbol of the National Alliance, a group founded and headed by William Pierce.

The author, Robert S. Griffin, (also a university professor) studied Pierce, his writings, and his deeds, before, during, and after a lengthy visit to the National Alliance headquarters in rural West Virginia. This book is the result. The book jacket blurb says that readers will "come away with a clear understanding of white nationalism -- another label, white racialism -- and its critique of American life."

Griffin points out that Pierce's thinking, and Pierce's exercise of free speech have earned Pierce the enmity of anti-white, anti-European, Christophobic hate-groups. Pierce and the National Alliance have become targets of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

William Pierce is the author of two works of fiction: "The Turner Diaries" and "Hunter". Both books reflect his philosophy and warn white Europeans and European/Americans to take heed, and to take steps to protect their culture, history, and heritage, which are now so vociferously under attack from political, academic, religious, and quasi-cultural Marxist special interests.

Pierce, according to his biographer, exhorts his people to defeat the propaganda of the far-left hate groups. In his philosophy, Pierce raises high the banners of Western culture and European-based civilization to lead people of European heritage in reasserting their natural courage, innate talents, and time-tested leadership abilities.

There is a relationship between the thrust of Pierce's philosophy, as explained in Griffin's work, and the dire warnings set down by Patrick Buchanan in his current best seller, "Death of the West." Pierce's philosophy is decidedly more pointed and his writings more explicit than Buchanan's, as regards the instigators and actors in the assault on Western culture.

The author paints a picture of Pierce, which makes it possible to understand how a free-thinking professor of physics might be driven away from teaching, by the shrill hysteria of hate-filled, far-left refugees from the 1960s, and clueless Affirmative Action beneficiaries who infest and devalue American universities. Campus weapons used against European/American students, and therefore against Pierce's heritage include speech codes, Affirmative Action, political correctness and Christophobia.

The author has done such a fine job of presenting the material that this book can make steam come out of your ears and your socks roll up and down, no matter what side of arguments you may be on.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Important Book
Review: A very well done book. Written in a way that it's informational to people who arent involved in the NA. Sizes down the titan Pierce to an everyday person. I especially found the parts on the operation of the NA interesting. Only one part of the book comes to mind as bad. A section in the middle where pierce recalls all the books he read when he was younger and which parts of each influenced him. If you don't want to risk [amt] on the book, I'd recommend downloading the e-book for [amt]. Also check out his The Turner Diaries.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: RIP Dr. William Pierce
Review: Dr. Pierce having passed away today, the title of this work may seem an eerie foreshadow of his untimely death.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dr. Pierce RIP natvan
Review: I purchased this book to get a better idea of what made Dr. Pierce 'tick'. I can honestly recommend this book as it is fair and balanced. Dr. Griffin comes across as impartial and spends no time attacking the character of his subject - probably because Dr. Pierce was a thoughtful, dedicated and honest man.

Dr. Griffin asks the same question that I wanted to know - what makes a family man who could have been extremely rich and successful leave it all to fight for beliefs that are currently scorned at? What motivates a man to leave his job as a tenured professor (later a senior research scientist) to become the writer of the Turner Diaries? Anyone who has listened to ADV knows but it is explained again in this book with interesting personal details. Dr. Pierce has recently passed away and to millions around the world he is dearly missed.

Glad that Amazon offers this book to the public.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AN EYE OPENER
Review: I read this book over two years ago, and it remains one of my favorites.
Professor Robert Griffin does a great job and an invaluable service to the Late Dr. William Pierce by portraying him in an unbiased way, and without any kind of sarcastic arrogance which characterizes most other works on the topic of white racialism. Dr. William Pierce was not a violent fanatic nor evil racist nut who hid in the hills armed to the teeth with guns and missiles as the controlled media and certain jewish 'human rights' organizations want you to think: Dr. Pierce was a spiritual person who was not corrupted by the stale materialism and diversity of American society. He was incorruptible and actually lived by higher principles that do our present 'leaders', if you can call them that.
Dr. Pierce saw straight into the soul of Western civilization and realized it's successes, failures, potential, and the danger in which it is in today. He strived to reach as many Europeans with his message and inspired them to regain their pride, self-esteem and dignity by removing the blinders of apathy, ignorance and multiculturalism from their eyes and opened them to the naked truth of nature, history and the will to start on the upward path.
Dr. William Pierce's untimely death has been a very sad and shocking occurrence, but he has made us all proud white European men and women much more stronger, and his message will undoubtedly be carried on by those who have the strength, foresight and intelligence to listen. Without Dr. William Pierce, we would surely be in a much worse situation today.
All people of European ancestry should read this book and learn the ultimate truth that to be white and proud is natural, healthy and right, no matter what others say.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well written, fair, and interesting.
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. I had always
been curious about Dr. Pierce and didn't know that
much about where he'd come from or how he'd gotten
to be the man he was. This book answered all those
questions and more, and upon finishing it I had
a deeper respect for him.

I like the fact that he comes across as a man with
a sense of humor and a sort of worldliness that often
goes missing in men who take on the issues he took on
in his lifetime. He did not oversimplify things nor
did he work at making things complex in ways that weren't
necessary. I came to appreciate the *way* he thought
about things and the *way* he proceeded with his life
because of reading this book. Because of these things,
I found the book to be personally inspirational.

I was also delighted to find that Robert Griffin did
neither demonize nor glorify Dr. Pierce. I think he
portrayed Dr. Pierce as a man, the personal man being
the source for the public figure; faults and all.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is
curious about Dr. Pierce and doesn't want to read
something that is either fawning or villifying.
Well done, Mr. Griffin.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A profound and insightful book
Review: I was hesitant to purchase this book because of the controversial nature of the topic, but once I had picked up the book and started to read it I could not put it down. I read it from cover to cover - there are very few books I can say I have done that. It is the autobiography of the most controversial author and white civil rights leader in the country. It talks about his life, his evolution and his awakening. It discusses very intimate details about the National Alliance, the cosmotheist church and many other very fascinating topics. The book is about 400+ pages and give you insights you may have never dreamed of before. This is one of those must read books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I would highly recommend this book, The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds, to anyone interested in contemporary America, WWII, White Nationalism, Western Culture, or those concerned with the state of America today and her future. Beyond the excellent portrait of Dr. Pierce the book also provides a wealth of historical, cultural, societal, and biographical information. The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds is a treasure trove of information and insight.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Political Iconoclasm at its finest!
Review: If this impressive book by educator Robert S. Griffin accomplishes one thing, I hope it is that the critics of Dr. Pierce and the racialist movement he represents can no longer be glibly dismissed as "Hate!". After listening to Dr. Pierce's short-wave radio broadcasts, Griffin became intrigued with Pierce's message and thought there needed to be an objective account of the man and his beliefs. As Griffin explains in the introduction, the purpose of the book is neither to praise or condemn but to give the reader a deeper look into Pierce's personal life and how his political ideas were formed. It is natural that one should feel reticent in taking Pierce's ideas too seriously, after all he freely calls himself a Nazi, but unlike others he is articulate, educated, and has a very gracious style of oral delivery. Besides loony ideas about gender being a social construction, whites are evil, capitalism is exploitive and a bunch of other hooey are endemic to our higher academic institutions, why can't Pierce's ideas get a fair hearing even if some of them are extreme?

While this book does open up parts of Pierce's personal life, the main thrust of the book is to trace his intellectual development from apolitical graduate student to the leading Nazi proponent in the country. During his years as a professor at the University of Oregon he became disenchanted with the direction of the country and started poking around at various right-wing groups. After a brief spell with the John Birch Society he went on to more "extreme" elements, joining up with George Lincoln Rockwell. Finally, after years of personal and financial sacrifice, he started the National Alliance and led it to the honorific title as "America's Most Dangerous Hate Group"[...].

So what does Pierce believe? As Dr. Griffin shows Pierce began his racialist path after reading Shaw's Man and Superman. This book instilled the idea of racial progress into Pierce; society must orient itself toward bringing forth a higher type of man -- racial progress, the higher ascension of consciousness, evinces the Life Force or the real purpose of the Creator. Dr. Griffin paraphrases a speach Pierce once gave called Our Cause, which really gets to the spiritual/philosophic heart of his beliefs. Pierce argues that while Europeans have been unmatched in their ability to fashion high societies, they lacked direction and certainty, and our now lost. If Europeans are to regain their orientation they need a new philosophy to help them with the struggles to come.

The idea of racial progess, that race is real and that some races are more creative than others, puts him on a collision course with the prevailing sentiments of the day. Notions of home and country, patriotism and kinship are out, while internationalism and diversity are seeping into both political parties. Pierce is of course most controversial with his statement on the Jews, who he sees as a group of people intent on subverting gentile societies to further their own interests. Egalitarianism in all its virulent manifestations -- communism, feminism, democracy, multiculturalism -- are wrecking our civilization and, according to Pierce, have wholly Jewish origins. Names like Marx, Steinem, Trotsky, Franz Boas, Ehrenberg, Goldman are to be found everywhere there is a subversive politics.

While most European-Americans (college students especially) seem to perpetually dwell in a catatonic stupor of political correctness, the ideas presented in this book show that there is "politics" that exists outside of the worn, boring, hollow shibboleths of the "left" and "right". Does either political party have the ideas that are going to insure America's survival? Pierce's ideas are only going to get more relevant.


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