Black Sun (Goodrick-Clarke book)



Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity is a book by the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, in which the author examines post-war Nazi occultism and similar phenomena.

It was published by New York University Press in August 2001 (ISBN 978-0814733264) and reissued in paperback (ISBN 0-8147-3155-4).

Summary
The book uses the Nazi occultism covered in Goodrick-Clarke's 1985 book The Occult Roots of Nazism to trace similar phenomena in the post-war West. According to the author, movements with such interests are particularly prevalent in the English-speaking world. Because the occultism found in the SS can be traced to Ariosophy, which emerged from the völkisch movement, Goodrick-Clarke coins the term "neo-völkisch" for the groups he covers in the book. These groups are defined by "concerns with white identity and ethnicity" and in many cases take interest in "esoteric themes of Aryan origins, secred knowledge and occult heritage". Subjects surveyed include American and British neo-Nazism, the writings of Julius Evola and Francis Parker Yockey, Savitri Devi's and Miguel Serrano's Esoteric Nazism, belief in Nazi UFOs, neo-Nazi Satanism, Christian Identity, the World Church of the Creator and Nordic Racial Paganism.

Reception
Publishers Weekly called the book a "comprehensive inquiry" which "adds to our knowledge of the broad, frightening tentacles of Nazi ideology".