Culture Warlords

My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy

by Talia Lavin

eBook, 288 pages

English language

Published Nov. 11, 2020 by Monoray.

ISBN:: 978-0-306-84645-8
ASIN:: B08FY6T3V8
Goodreads:: 55561905

(18 reviews)

4 editions

bgainor reviewed Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin

Review of Culture Warlords

4 stars

Reads more like a memoir than an actual in-depth exploration of white supremacy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and there was certainly a lot of background in there, but I feel like there was a lot more to unpack. The last chapter, "We Keep Us Safe", is as relevant as ever and is probably the most important part of the book.

Pedro reviewed Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin

Review of 'Culture Warlords' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is more a compilation of essays rather than a cohesive book, and while it derails too much to the personal on the author side, it shows devastating proof of how the hate support groups organise in the Internet depths.

I think the title is not really accurate and a bit bait when they refer to “dark web”, as obscure Telegram chats and Facebook groups do not really qualify as dark web in my opinion. In that aspect I found the reading and investigation quite superficial.

Overall is a quick read and brings you up to speed on white supremacist groups, their origins and attitudes, specially in the US.

Note: I did read the Spanish translation of this book, which I found quite inaccurate at stages.

Tenured Radical reviewed Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin

Review of 'Culture Warlords' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Troubling and compelling.

Jill reviewed Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin

Review of 'Culture Warlords' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This book is a memoir of the author's experiences reporting on white supremacy. It is not an analysis of white supremacy, nor does it offer any insights into how it became such a driving force in modern American politics.

I was hoping to come away with a better understanding of why people turn to hate groups and some ideas about how to combat a dangerous movement, but that's not what this book is about. It's an interesting memoir and I think it's valuable to see how senseless hate affects its targets, so I do think this book was worth reading.

John McChesney-Young reviewed Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin

Review of 'Culture Warlords' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Intense but excellent account of a mixture of personal experience with white supremacists (usually but not always under an assumed identity, via the internet) and 19th and 20th century and contemporary history.