Rating: 
Summary: Someone who publishes answers, not conclusions
Review: In the current time, it's fashionable to moralize instead of explicating a controversial source or subject. Griffin does an excellent job of keeping moralization to a minimum and essentially letting Pierce speak for himself through lengthy and extensive quotations from the writings, speeches and interviews compiled here. Where the author does intervene, it is to give context to these works by explaining the relevance and theories of books and people influential in Dr. Pierce's life.Part biography, part critical review, and part a very condensed read of a lifetime of work, "The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds" gets to the heart of all things Pierce, National Alliance and nationalist/racist without getting clingy through moralization or missing the point. Although the book runs a bit long toward the end, and could use an edit in some parts to make them more concise, it is an exciting and addictive read for anyone interested in this topic area.
Rating: 
Summary: Griffin leans left somewhat!
Review: In the opening chapter Griffin gives some account of the ADL and the SPLC and their opinion of Dr. Pierce. What disturbes me is Griffin gives readers the impression these two self serving subversive groups are open minded watchdogs when in fact they each have their own agenda and axe to grind. It makes me wonder which master Griffin was serving and just how open minded he really is.
Rating: 
Summary: Hey Racists!
Review: Just wanted to say "hey" to my racist brothers. I had to give this book 1 star because I've been around a little and I try to think with an open mind and I'm interested in what's best for our world and I don't try to make the world fit into a preconceived worldview which is often shaped by incidents and events that happened in childhood that one might not even remember. Otherwise I'd rate it higher like the racists did. Question: where do you guys go to talk about these thoughts you're having?
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Engaging
Review: Make sure you start "The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds" on a Friday, because you won't want to do anything for a couple of days except read this book. A journalist decides to allow Dr. Pierce to present his case to the world and the result is this fascinating read. The author, Robert Griffin, is not on Pierce's payroll, neither is he a National Alliance fellow-traveller. But he is objective. And that's something almost NEVER seen in matters of presenting the arguments and personages of the racialist right. The work is half biography and half rendering of Pierce's philosophy. My only criticism is that Griffin's attempt to distance himself from Pierce in his writing makes the reading a little awkward. What I mean is that every other sentence contains phrases like "Pierce argues", "says Pierce", "Pierce contends", "maintains Pierce", "Pierce states", etc., etc. But in all that's a small complaint and should not keep anyone from reading this book. If you truly want to make an attempt to understand the mindset of those on the far right, read this book. If you're satisfied by brain-dead polemic labels (racist, bigot, hate-monger) when considering the right then don't bother. The book is well-written and edited. Especially for a small-time publishing house. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Engaging
Review: Make sure you start "The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds" on a Friday, because you won't want to do anything for a couple of days except read this book. A journalist decides to allow Dr. Pierce to present his case to the world and the result is this fascinating read. The author, Robert Griffin, is not on Pierce's payroll, neither is he a National Alliance fellow-traveller. But he is objective. And that's something almost NEVER seen in matters of presenting the arguments and personages of the racialist right. The work is half biography and half rendering of Pierce's philosophy. My only criticism is that Griffin's attempt to distance himself from Pierce in his writing makes the reading a little awkward. What I mean is that every other sentence contains phrases like "Pierce argues", "says Pierce", "Pierce contends", "maintains Pierce", "Pierce states", etc., etc. But in all that's a small complaint and should not keep anyone from reading this book. If you truly want to make an attempt to understand the mindset of those on the far right, read this book. If you're satisfied by brain-dead polemic labels (racist, bigot, hate-monger) when considering the right then don't bother. The book is well-written and edited. Especially for a small-time publishing house. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Well-written biography
Review: No matter what your opinion is about William Pierce's views, this is one of the most poignant biographies of a man who has had a large influence. To the politically correct person who gave this one star - a book review is NOT a forum for you to disagree with the viewpoint of the book. You are supposed to rate the book on how it is actually written.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Dr. Pierce
Review: Of course, given that Dr. Pierce has been a monumental figure in my life, I carry no pretension of objectively portraying the value of the book. However, as a writer Professor Griffin, who teaches at the University of Vermont, presented a book that is thoroughly readable and well-expressed. In it he writes about the life of Dr. Pierce and delves into details hitherto unknown to many of Dr. Pierce's biggest admirers, and gets into Dr. Pierce's past and his political influences, and ultimately into his transformation into one of the key political figures (albeit non-mainstream and unknown to many) of the 20th-century, as well as into his views on numerous issues crucial to him. Professor Griffin spent plenty of time interviewing Dr. Pierce at his West Virginia compound in order to write the book. He notes that Dr. Pierce, who eventually earned a doctorate in physics, was pretty much apolitical while an undergraduate at Rice University and as a graduate student at the University of Colorado. Following his graduation from Rice, Dr. Pierce worked at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico for a few months, where he assisted in attempts to develop controlled nuclear fusion. Later on, and about a year after obtaining his bachelor's, Pierce worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where much of America's space program was started, and did work in rocket instrumentation. Dr. Pierce's dream was to become an astronaut, but he was told his eyesight was too poor and that, standing at 6'4", he was too tall. As an avid reader of Pierce's political material, his towering height was something of which I was unaware. While a graduate student, Pierce was enamored with George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, where the theme of serving the Life Force -- that is, the will of Nature -- and a grander purpose than oneself, and of working to create a superior being in man so that this Life Force can reach complete self-realization, had him smitten. It also shaped his pantheistic outlook. This Nietzschean play came to influence his philosophy of Cosmotheism -- a modern White Nationalist version of Shaw's pantheism -- wherein the White race is to work to create superior beings through a plan of eugenics in order to fulfill the Universe's will. It is notable that in Man and Superman Shaw portrays the Devil as a Jew. At the age of 29, Pierce obtained the position of assistant professorship at the Oregon State University. In just three years he rose to the position of associate professor and then obtained tenure, whereas in most cases it might take as long as six years to obtain tenure. Having the status of tenure ensures a lifetime of employment at a university, with complete job security and benefits. Yet, like many notable figures throughout history, Dr. Pierce left the comfortable life to live a life of activism, so that he could bring about change and ultimately a realization of his political goals. It was while a professor that Dr. Pierce began to take notice of the political changes taking place. The protests against the Vietnam War, in addition to the Civil Rights struggle, had him worried as to the future that lay ahead for America. For some time Pierce joined up with the John Birch Society, an organization dedicated to fighting communist subversion. He was disappointed with what he felt to be its mealy-mouthed nature over the role of Jews in communism, and thus began a search for alternatives. Soon thereafter Dr. Pierce saw George Lincoln Rockwell, who served as a naval commander and was a preeminent Nazi figure in post-World War II America as leader of the American Nazi Party, on TV getting heckled in front of a university audience, speechifying openly about Jews and the dangers of multiculturalism. Dr. Pierce wrote a letter to Rockwell, and received a lengthy response from him. This touched Dr. Pierce deeply. Eventually he began working with Rockwell, and it was with his time with Rockwell's organization -- whose membership he was not too fond of -- that he learned such valuable things as printing and publishing political material. Some time after Rockwell's [demise], Pierce saw a man on television running an organization called the National Youth Alliance aimed towards college students and opposing the growing counterculture. The organization was founded by Willis Carto -- the man who also founded the Institute for Historical Review, a revisionist organization based in California -- and it was heavily in debt. Pierce eventually took over the operations of the organization, which later came to be known as the National Alliance. While working with the National Youth Alliance, Pierce met a professor of the classics from the University of Illinois by the name of Revilo Pendleton Oliver, who encouraged him to reach out to new people through the medium of fiction. This inspired Pierce to write The Turner Diaries and Hunter. While he felt the latter to be a better-written book, the former has become an internationally famous underground book due to its association with Timothy McVeigh, who is said to have conducted the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing with the inspiration of Pierce's book. There are many other interesting details of Pierce's life, ones that I cannot cover in a mere review. For those who would like to learn more about the life and times of Dr. Pierce, as well as the National Socialist movement in America after World War II, I would strongly urge them to read the book. Given the timing of Dr. Pierce's [demise], the book and its title take on a whole new meaning. I will never forget Dr. Pierce. I will never forget his Saturday morning broadcasts on the internet. Having a former physics professor share your truthful yet unpopular political perspective, and guiding you toward the proper path, gave one a very special feeling, a special attachment to him. There will never again be another Dr. Pierce. He lives on as a giant in Western civilization, equal to any intellectual great in its history. That is the personal significance of the book for me. ...
Rating:
Summary: First Rate Biography!
Review: Robert Griffin has done an amazing job at writing what will likely be the definitive biography of William L. Pierce, Ph.D., the late Chairman of the National Alliance. Until his recent death, Dr. Pierce was primary known as the writer of "The Turner Diaries," a fictional work he wrote under the pseudonym of "Andrew Macdonald" and which was credited with inspiring Timothy McVeigh, convicted and put to death for the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, OK. Griffin devotes only two chapters to the "Turner Diaries," however, and properly devotes the bulk of his book to a proper biographical treatment of a complex man who went from being a professor of physics to the leader of the largest nationalist organization in the United States. Griffin is a biographer, not a polemicist, and allows Pierce's words to speak for themselves (the author spent a month with Pierce at the National Vanguard's compound in West Virginia; and Pierce is unabashed in his views). This is very much an intellectual biography, with the author tracing the development of Pierce's views and his involvement with organizations from early years in the John Birch Society, to George Lincoln Rockwell's American Nazi Party -- later called the National Socialist White People's Party -- to the National Alliance. Along the way, he references not only Pierce's radio broadcasts and writings but other writings which influenced Pierce. There should be no mistake about it: Pierce was a fierce nationalist, racist and anti-Semite and he does not dodge these issues in his interviews with the author. Individuals who hated Pierce in his lifetime, and/or regarded him as a dangerous figure, will not change their minds on the basis of this book (nor is that the author's intention). Those who praised Pierce as a heroic champion of the white race will continue to adhere to that position. This is the nature of individuals and events which tend toward achieving polarization. All of this notwithstanding, it cannot be denied that Griffin has done a first-rate job as a biographer and those individuals who want to gain a greater understanding of a controversial figure on the radical finges of American politics, whatever their own personal feelings about the man, will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Thorough, insightful account of an incredible man
Review: Robert Griffin presents a thorough, insightful, and remarkably fair and unbiased account of the late, great Dr. William L. Pierce. What is so impressive about Griffin's book, subject matter aside, is the clarity given to Pierce's thoughts and views by an academic, a university professor- this is essentially Pierce's book, with a near complete lack of silly author commentary warning of insanely evil opinions and views. Indeed, Griffin wrote for Jared Taylor's "American Renaissance," a particularly interesting article on raising "honorable" white children; thus his sympathies may very well be entirely "politically uncorrect." His treatment of Dr. Pierce is based on a month hunkered down on his West Virginia compound in which he talked with Pierce extensively, audiotaping everything, and organizing the information into quite a page-turner. Pierce details his formative years in college, and especially when he became a professor, a comfortable life he gave up in order to live in near-poverty to fight for what he believed in, first in getting involved with Rockwell's Nazi Party and then forming his own National Youth Alliance, what would become the National Alliance of today. Pierce is shown to have devoted himself to educating, grass-roots reaching out to the man "just above Joe Six-Pack," a distinction that is quite stark following Pierce's death, in that he stressed that his funeral be private due in large part to his denunciation of many "white power" people and "goose-steppers." That is, the Alliance has been an essentially elitist organization; Pierce left the American Nazis because he saw too many of these undesirables joining that group. We also get the sense that his lifetime of fighting may not have helped so much, in Pierce's vociferously stressed theme of media control, and from this, control of most other things. As long as my message unfiltered only reaches a tiny fraction, Pierce maintains, how would this tiny fraction find the strength to stand up against the media, the government, their own brain-washed community? There seems to be the sense of a kind of sadness that Dr. Pierce also points out quite frequently- nothing short of violent revolution will change anything; you can't work from within the system. Nothing short of an armed takeover will control the lemmings. The book is essential as a handbook on modern nationalist socialist thought from the mind of the forerunner of the movement, with chapters detailing such things as Pierce's views on men and women, religion, Hitler, his two novels- "Turner Diaries" of course, and "Hunter." One of my favorite pieces was the almost verbatim reprint of Pierce's seminal speech "Our Cause," in which he eloquently lays out the goals of the National Alliance and all healthy white people. To really complete the book I hope that Griffin will add on a few chapters in a new edition to cover the two years or so before its original publication and Pierce's death. Nonetheless an essential read on modern national socialism and a fascinating account of Dr. Pierce.
Rating:
Summary: A European American 'must read' book
Review: The Fame Of A Dead Man's Deeds by Robert Griffin should be on the top of every patriots reading list. NOt only is it easy to read but it also gives many insightful glimpses into one of America's most fascinating individuals. Unlike the major media that paint ANY pro-white advocist as a devil-worshipping, homocidal, toothless spewer of race hating nonsense--- this book describes the reality and determination behind a man that is a true leader in the Aryan movement. A man that dares to tell the truth is always feared... Dr. William L. Pierce.
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