Homeland: Into a World of Hate [Hardcover]

'Reportage of the most illuminating kind - a vividly atmospheric narrative...unsettling and fascinating.'

'A terrifying book that provokes nightmares, and makes me fear for the future of our civilised society.'

'a stunning writer...intense, angry, with an enviable gift for accessible analysis.'

'Ryan's Homeland is a disturbing read and the author should be encouraged to continue his valuable work.'

'Both a personal odyssey and a social commentary, not simply a story of undercover intrigue nor dry political analysis.'

'Ryan's reportage is powerful cutting-edge...highly-descriptive and fast-flowing, as heart stopping as any Tom Clancy thriller.'

'an epic journey...[with] powerful writing...all anti-fascists should own a copy'

'Fascinating material - Nick Ryan is a very brave man...great stuff'

'Very good: nice writing and nice scenes and smart thinking'

'the power and detail of Dickens...he writes furiously, at times brilliantly.'

'a journalistic odyssey into an underworld of pure hate...a warning for us all.'

A bomb explodes on crowded London street; a mob of young and old gathers in East Germany to watch a hostel burn; a fiery Reagan adviser annouces his candidacy for US President. Unconnected events, surely? Or part of a Hollywood thriller? In fact these are just some of the events that award-winning writer and film maker Nick Ryan witnesses on his journey into the world of hate, his roller-coaster ride through the terrifying area of white nationalism. Ryan recounts how 10 million otherwise `respectable' citizens voted for far right and ultra-nationalist parties during recent European elections. He describes how whole towns have been declared `liberated zones' by neo Nazi gangs. And he follows the stories of the `lone wolf' killers wreaking vengeance on an ever-more-complex society. The question is this: are all three areas linked? `88!' is the commonly used neo-Nazi slang for `Heil Hitler!' and the book is the story of one man's unique journey - and encounters - with the men and women at the heart of the white supremacist movement. In a powerful, compelling and occasionally disturbing narrative, Ryan takes us through the streets and town of Europe and the USA, charting the growth of hate and intolerance.

Nick Ryan is an award-winning British journalist and writer, as well as consultant TV producer. His work has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world, including The New York Times Magazine, The Times Magazine, The Independent on Sunday Review, The Telegraph Magazine, The Observer Magazine, The Mail on Sunday Review, The Weekend Australian, and he is a regular reviewer for The Express newspaper. He was creative producer of the BBC1 drama, England Expects, starring Steven Mackintosh, and a consultant for the Ross Kemp on Gangs series shown on Sky 1.

Winter 1996, Holborn, central London

The rain cracks hard on the cold London tarmac. The drumming rhythm vibrates through bone, into my head. I rub my jaw, yawning to relieve the tension.

Ahead, past the worrying commuters, a grim face regards me through the gloom. Broad shoulders, baseball cap, partly shadowed face. He shifts against the railings, impatient. I approach, terrified and fascinated. A cigarette glows fitfully for a moment, beneath the hood of his sodden sweatshirt.

'Aw'right mate, follow me,' he orders. His features flash, lean and intense. I recognise the rough south London accent from our mobile phone conversations. It's blunt, uncompromising, simple. His eyes narrow. Then he turns, without another word. I stand there, water streaming down from my fingertips.

'Fuck.'

By the time I catch up, he’s almost at The Princess Louise, a grand Victorian pub nestled close to the haven of Holborn Tube station.

Past the frosted glass and familiar chatter, staring across the broad expanse of tables, they wait. Their gear is casual, but the faces are hard, sullen, full of mistrust. Angry-looking tattoos poke out from under smart shirt sleeves. Mobile phones lie in a neat row, next to bottles of Bud and pints of Guinness. The talk, in a melting pot of accents from across London’s council estates, is of football 'firms' (gangs), lads, and 'jobs' (robberies). I swallow hard and walk over.

'We don’t want to live with Africans and Pakis, we want to live with our own people - don't we?' quips a Humpty-Dumpty figure with a receding hairline and a dull leer. He grabs a beer from my outstretched hand. Covered in a heavy lace of tattoos and carrying a bulky bag of CDs, Paul David 'Charlie' Sargent is a leader not so much by charisma as by force and fear. He has a habit of putting rhetorical questions at the ends of his sentences, leaving little room for discussion. His three companions drag on cigarettes and pull baseball caps down over their tight-cropped hair as they talk of revolution – White Revolution.

'Our kids are learning their way of life before their own,' laments Scott, a gruff-faced former squaddie. A clamour of guttural 'yeahs' supports him. 'They’re taking us over,' adds Charlie in his animated, nasal voice. 'The whole of London is just becoming a cesspit.'

'The solution?'

'National Socialism.'

'Which is?'

'Racism,' he says, with a characteristically challenging look. 'The easiest politics in the world.'

To Charlie and the others, 'they' – meaning either the State, which they call ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government), or the immigrant communities – are the Enemy. So now they want no part of the system. 'I don’t vote. What’s the point? I’m not gonna play their f*****g silly little games,' spits Charlie.

These men are members of a paramilitary struggle, based on punishment beatings, control, and fear. 'I know perfectly well we're gonna win. I'm under no disillusions about it. Sooner or later we’re gonna win.'

'But win what?'

'The War.'

'What war?'

'The war against the government and the people invading this f*****g land.'