It is lucky for England that her homegrown would-be Führer finally turned out to be little more than a weird historical footnote. Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and its “Defense Force” of thuggish Blackshirts, was a sinister character, to be sure, but he was also something of a buffoon. Mosley’s one-time associate Harold Nicolson saw the perils inherent in his chosen role early on, and warned him that

fascism is not suitable to England. In Italy there was a long history of secret societies. In Germany there was a long tradition of militarism. Neither had a sense of humour. In England anything on these lines is doomed to failure and ridicule.

Whether it was really because of the national sense of humor (a self-flattering notion), or because of the country’s long and largely successful system of parliamentary government, or in...

 

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