And they refused to close ranks

Leon Trotsky's Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It is a short little pamphlet that is, quite understandably, nothing even remotely resembling an entire history of the fascist movement. It is, however, an interesting little analysis of fascism as seen from the vantage point of the early '30s, analyzing its class character, how it develops, and several of the mistakes the various flavors of the left made in combating it. It's a collection of shorter writings published as one pamphlet, so it covers several different subjects -- it also includes an essay on the relationship between fascism and the police and one on the United States. 

 

I read this as part of my DSA chapter's book club on Understanding Reactionary and Fascist Thought; as such, I talked it out at great length already and have little brain juice left for a review. I will say there's quite a lot you can find to talk about for such a short collection of writings, though.