A.K. Chesterton and the Evolution of Britain’s Extreme Right, 1933-1973

A biography of A.K. Chesterton who was a leading figure in British fascist groups from the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s to the League of Empire Loyalists in the 1950s and the National Front in the 1960s.

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Arthur Kenneth (A.K.) Chesterton was a soldier, journalist and activist whose involvement with fascist and extreme right-wing politics in Britain spanned four decades. Beginning with his recruitment to Oswald Mosley’s ‘Blackshirts’ in the 1930s, Chesterton’s ideological relationship with fascism, nationalism and anti-Semitism would persist far beyond the collapse of the interwar movements, culminating in his role as a founder of the National Front in 1967.

This study examines Chesterton’s significance as a bridging figure between two eras of extreme right activity in Britain, and considers the ideological and organizational continuity that existed across the interwar and post-war periods. It further uses Chesterton's life as a means to explore the persistence of racism and anti-Semitism within British society, as well as examining the political conflicts and tactical disputes that shaped the extreme right as it attempted to move ‘from the margins to the mainstream’.

This book will appeal to students and researchers with an interest in fascism studies, British political history, extremism and anti-Semitism.