The two lives of John Hooper Harvey

Macklin's article documents the two lives of noted architectural historian John Hooper Harvey, focusing on the inextricable link between his fêted academic career and his involvement during the 1930s with the most extreme antisemitic and pro-Nazi group in Britain, the Imperial Fascist League, led by Arnold Leese. Macklin argues that Harvey's virulent antisemitism and his academic writing were part of an interconnected totality with one informing the other throughout his career. In examining the link between his gutter antisemitism and his vast erudition and learning Macklin also highlights the importance of neo-mediaevalism to fascist and Nazi ideology. His article stands slightly apart from the other articles in this special issue in that it deals with a tradition of historicized ‘folk’ history and cultural aspects of race rather than explicitly ‘scientific’ or anthropological racism. Given the recent resurgence of ‘heritage’ and ‘cultural traditions’ studies in the academy Macklin's article on these neglected aspects of thinking on race and nation is particularly timely.