The Damp and the Dry: A Brief Incursion Into Fascist Territory

A critical biography of Belgiumâ?¿s highest-ranking Nazi collaborator, Léon Degrelle, who fought with the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front during the Second World War and served as inspiration for the protagonist of Jonathan Littellâ?¿s bestselling, Prix Goncourtâ?¿winning novel The Kindly Ones ([Gallimard 2006] HarperCollins 2009). Originally published in French as Le sec et lâ?¿humide: Une brÿve incursion en territoire fasciste (Gallimard 2008) and translated into Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Czech, Catalan, and now English, The Damp and the Dry is a critical case study of a fascist true believer who was supported by both Hitler and Mussolini during the Second World War and later sheltered by Franco in Spain. Littell pays close attention to Degrelleâ?¿s autobiographical writings, especially his account of fighting on the Eastern Front, The Russian Campaign, and uncovers an â??anatomy of fascist discourse,â?? developing on the theories of German sociologist Klaus Theweleit, whose Afterword follows the text.