Press Reviews

• PAULINE BLACK

  A timely book exposing the complicated history of the use of Nazi symbols in popular music culture since the last world war. As the powers-that-be lurch towards a far-right future, there is no longer any hiding place for those pretending to be ignorant about the true meaning of Nazism, or using its emblems for their supposed subversive 'cool' factor. They have a choice, own their perverse fascination when exposed or apologise

• EMMA FORREST

  While it's slightly incredible nobody has before published a book on rock's periodic spasms of flirtation with Nazism, one could picture it as a dry, academic thesis rather than the absolute banger Daniel Rachel has written. It's hard to imagine there will be a more original book of non-fiction this year

• BILLY BRAGG

  In this important exploration of the relationship between pop music and the Third Reich, Daniel Rachel challenges the motivations of those artists who sought glamour and notoriety in exploiting Nazi imagery

• John Harris

  MOJO

  A deeply thought-provoking work, and long overdue

• WILL HODGKINSON

  THE TIMES

  Daniel Rachel has dug deep into rock and pop's enduring obsession with Nazism. Why is this still going on?

• JOHN HIGGS

  A timely, wide ranging and eye-opening overview of music's fascination with the Third Reich, from moronic edgelord stupidity to studied, cold hearted hate. Thorough, calm and at times heart-breaking, This Aint Rock 'n' Roll is surely the most necessary music book of the year

• Irish Times

  Highlights both the stupidity and subversion of musicians' flirting with Nazism ... the book astutely traces the global rise of fascism and its reverberations in pop culture

• JEWISH TELEGRAPH

  The cognitive dissonance between rock's rebellious use of Nazi imagery and the actual horror of the Nazi regime. There are surprising details everywhere in this book

• YORKSHIRE POST

  A shocking and highly necessary book

• JON SAVAGE

  A catalogue of Rock's flirtation with fascist symbolism that builds into a relentless polemic. Important and timely

• ROUGH TRADE

  From Bowie and punk to contemporary provocation. Daniel Rachel examines the uneasy intersection between pop culture and fascist imagery. Deeply research and provocative, it asks why artists flirt with dangerous symbols and what that says about society's memory. This is history, ethics, and pop theory colliding in one compelling study. A must-read for anyone who believes music can challenge as well as charm

• LOUDER THAN WAR

  Rachel's book is compelling - not an easy read, but as essential now as at any point in our history

• ROBIN INCE

  A brilliant book

• Terry Staunton

  RECORD COLLECTOR

  An important book about an uncomfortable history . . . Rachel is a gifted writer of evocative prose and a diligent historian, and here he assembles a responsible, questioning and thought-provoking examination of wider social and cultural consciousnesses. It's a fascinating chronicle of both human atrocities and the often dubious psyche of rock's legacy that ought to be taught in colleges

• SAMIRA AHMED

  Brilliant . . . Daniel writes with such energy and thoughtfulness

• MALCOLM RUSSELL

  A thorough and fascinating examination of the flirtations pop musicians have made with the aesthetics, language, and occasionally, the ideology of Nazism

• Neil Tennant

  I hadn't considered before the relentless frequency with which rock musicians have been bewitched by the surface glamour of fascism and its hideous ideology. The author is to be congratulated for compiling this dismal and sometimes bizarre history!

• Wallpaper

  A sadly rather timely book . . . deeply researched and provocative. A must-read for anyone who believes music can challenge as well as charm.

• Mark Ellen

  Word In Your Ear

  Educational . . . This Ain't Rock 'N' Roll points up extraordinary examples - "from Tommy Steele to Kanye West" - and how our reaction intensified over the years

• Miranda Sawyer

  We Have Notes Podcast

  An incredibly sobering, fascinating, serious, but uplifting book

• Winnipeg Free Press

  A brilliant text and substantive exemplar of historical inquiry

• Sampan Newspaper

  Remarkable. An urgent, intense examination of how one malevolent movement in the course of world history has remained relevant and powerful

• Booklist

  Timely and relevant

• Moment Magazine

  Far-reaching and meticulous

• Music Connection

  Rarely has a book felt so timely . . . a brilliant book!

• New Noise

  Equal parts enlightening, troubling, and wildly compelling, with This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll Rachel tackles one of the more taboo aspects in the history of pop music with grace, nuance and narrative flair

• Toronto Sun

  Vital

• Wall Street Journal

  The book presents a multigenerational supergroup of stupidity, opportunism and, occasionally, earnest morbidity