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

by Robert S. Griffin

The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds: An Up-Close Portrait of White Nationalist William Pierce by Robert S. Griffin is about the life and ideas of the most influential and intriguing figure on the extreme right in America. William Pierce is best known as the author of the infamous underground novel, The Turner Diaries, which has sold over three hundred thousand copies and very likely inspired the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. An Anti-Defamation League report calls the organization Pierce heads, the National Alliance, the most dangerous hate group in America. Robert Griffin lived for a month on Pierce's heavily guarded property in rural West Virginia and came to know Pierce and those around him. Griffin conducted twenty hours of audio-taped interviews with Pierce, which he draws upon extensively in The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds. The book recounts Pierce's personal story from childhood on, identifies the books and people and situations that have influenced him, spells out his perspective on the issues of our time, and describes his day-to-day routine. The title of the book is drawn from an old Norse poem which, in ways that become clear as the book progresses, captures the meaning Pierce ascribes to his own life. Pierce is put in a larger frame by accounts of the lives and ideas of other individuals on the far right, most of them unfamiliar to the general public, and references to related published materials, many of which are not readily available in this country. Readers of this book will come away with a clear understanding of white nationalism--another label, white racialism--and its critique of American life. General readers will find The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds engaging and accessible, and even the most discerning readers will find this book timely, important, informative, and thought-provoking.

Genres: Politics, Biography, Race, Nonfiction, American, Philosophy

448 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Professor in the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermon.

Griffin has written three books on White European heritage and two books on education of children.

Reviews

[Handrick]

"I would love to be around a thousand years from now but I won't be, so I accept the next best thing: that is the possibility that my people will remember the little bit I contributed to their salvation during a critical period in our history. Whatever anybody thinks about me now, I hope that future generations of my people will conclude that in my life's work I had them in mind."

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than a biography about Pierce its a lay out of all the ideas that make up Identatarian or White Nationalist agendas.
Why would someone support this line of thought or join up and devote his life to it, even at the cost of being ostracized, ending up alone and with fringe eccentrics (like Pierce did)? The book does a wonderful job at explaining all of this through all the conversations that the author had with Pierce. A man who was true to his convictions no matter what. Balls of steel.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is interesting to read about the span of Dr. Pierce's career and the people he had interacted with. The book is not an obvious hit piece, but it does make digs at Pierce. Portraying him at times as if he were about to snap. I think Pierce could have made a bigger impact had he used his knowledge of physics in a way similar to Kacynski rather than focusing on a radio show that few heard. He was always a figure in the movement, and he was respected.

[Jeremy Maddux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouldn't want to hang all of my hopes on this guy's life's work, but I never fail to enjoy the challenge of reading controversial books shunned by more timid, socially aware readers.

[Hank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Den här boken är enligt författaren själv, Robert S. Griffin, ett porträtt av den Amerikanska förespråkaren och aktivisten för Vit nationalism William L. Pierce (1930-2002). Griffin bodde under ett par månader hos Pierce och intervjuande honom några gånger i veckan. Boken redogör för Pierce's livsåskådning, historia, intellektuella influenser, åsikter och hans författarskap samt hans tid och handlingar inom diverse organisationer. Boken är förvånansvärt neutral och objektiv men tanke på att personen som behandlas var en kontroversiell regimfiende. Författaren verkade vara genuint nyfiken och beskrev Pierce's idéer och liv på ett intressant och informativt sätt. Boken är även en intressant inblick i den miljö och de idéströmningarna som Pierce var representativ för. Avslutningsvis delar vi med oss av ett citat från William L. Pierce:

"There are plenty of people who agree with us about the type of society we want, the type of future we want for our people. There are many people who are disgusted with the rotten politicians and the rotten political system we have in Washington, people who are angry about what nonwhite minorities have done to our schools and our cities, people who are sick and tired of seeing television and the other mass media promote everything which is sick, perverse, and destructive. Many people don’t feel guilty when the media tell them to feel guilty. There are plenty of people who want a clean, decent, white society for their children to grow up in. But these people are afraid to say or do anything. Many a r e terrified even to have other people know what they are thinking. I understand the difference between prudence or reasonable caution on the one hand and cowardice or unreasoning fear on the other hand. Prudence is no vice, but cowardice is. The times we are living in tend t o make cowards of us all. We are pressed to make moral compromises every day, and it becomes a habit. We adjust our behavior in order to get b y without a lot of trouble. We do not act heroically because heroism is out of fashion. We try to do what is prudent rather than what is heroic."

[Jeffrey Gao · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage apologism and pathetic defense of William Luther Pierce, AKA, the biggest pile of racist garbage in forever! This pile of paper deserves no fans and certainly no support!
Kelvin Pierce’s book Sins of my Father is far superior and portrays William Luther Pierce more accurately: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

[Clint Seeber · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and unbiased look into the life and mind of the founder of the National Alliance.

[Shea Mastison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had previously read this two years ago approximately. I remember feeling that Robert S. Griffin was being very fair to William Pierce, and the National Alliance as a whole; now, however, I almost believe that Griffin may have actually been sympathetic.

The book is an interesting blend of biography and memoir (from Griffin's viewpoint). It discusses all of Pierce's accomplishment within the "White Nationalist movement" and breaks downs his motives and fears for the future.

Since reading this, I have kept an eye on the National Alliance, and as Pierce suspected, the organization has died some short time after his own demise. One wonders if that is the fate of every such group founded upon an authoritarian/dynamic leader.

If people with "dangerous" or unpopular ideas interest you, maybe check this out.