This book provides a comparative and historical analysis of totalitarianism and considers why Spain became totalitarian during its inquisition but not France; Instead, he presents an alternative framework that can explain why some states become totalitarian and why they induce people to commit evil acts.

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Cases of Totalitarianism.- Chapter 3: Explaining Evilness.- Chapter 4: France and the Non-Totalitarian Inquisition.- Chapter 5: Spain: Premodern Totalitarianism.- Chapter 6: Sweden.- Chapter 7: Nazi Germany and Non-Banal Evilness.- Chapter 8: Conclusion: The End?.

This book provides a comparative and historical analysis of totalitarianism and considers why Spain became totalitarian during its inquisition but not France; and why Germany became totalitarian during the previous century, but not Sweden. The author pushes the concept of totalitarianism back into the pre-modern period and challenges Hannah Arendt’s notion of the banality of evil. Instead, he presents an alternative framework that can explain why some states become totalitarian and why they induce people to commit evil acts.

Steven Saxonberg is a professor in the Institute of European Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Institute of Public Policy and Social Work, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. He did research for this book while at the Centre for Social and Economic Strategies, Charles University in Prague.

“Today, when the role of fear in keeping the population in line has been again rediscovered by different political actors, there is nothing more timely than asking new and critical questions about the dark European history. The book, a comparative historical political-sociological analysis of the history of Spain, France, Germany and Sweden, argues against the widely held belief that totalitarianism is something modern. The challenging argument of the book that totalitarianism has come about as part of a state-building strategy will help us think about what one can or cannot learn from the past.” (Andrea Pető, Professor, Central European University, Hungary)

Argues against Arendt’s ‘banality of evil’ thesis from a theoretical perspective Compares regimes to consider why they become totalitarian Demonstrates that totalitarianism is not purely a modern phenomenon

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