Arthur Kemp

An indispensable encyclopedic history of the white race and the many civilizations, ethnicities, and nations that arose through the millennia as manifestations of Indo-European blood. What makes "March of the Titans" stand out from the crowd of other similarly structured chronological accounts of Europe or Western Civilization is Kemp's *explicitly* racial conception of history. His basic thesis is that civilization is 'downstream' of race; that all sociopolitical and cultural phenomenon are essentially products of the genetic mesh, the biological substrate that they are incubated within; and that therefore any admixture or wholesale replacement of a previously homogeneous population will inevitably, invariably translate into different social and cultural expressions -- for better or for worse. Kemp analyzes the entirety of the white race's history through this unique interpretive lens.

In this sense I view "March of the Titans" to be a series of encyclopedic articles pertaining to the entirety of the history of the white race and linked by this unifying meta-theory regarding the primacy of blood in accounting for the rise and fall of civilizations. I have a habit of looking up random Wikipedia articles concerning various historical periods or subjects and just lightly skimming through them for a few minutes. Now, when I have this urge to briefly familiarize myself with a broad historical era or context it is "March of the Titans" that I find myself reaching for. The great utility of this book is that it strengthens one's sense of historical orientation and context in regards to the white race in bite-sized chunks that are easy to review.

My only criticism is the lack of footnotes. There are many contentious claims that are made in this book that would have benefited from citations. This is not, however, to imply that Kemp was disingenuous or deceptive in his role as a historian, but rather because certain arguments that Kemp makes may lead a curious reader to desire to follow-up on them in order to learn more. As it stands, "March of the Titans" is enlightening in its sweeping, unified grand-history white race, but it is not a scholarly work that can be relied upon for serious research. That, of course, was never Kemp's intention with this book. Yet, there was no inherent reason why a limited number of citations for particularly contentious claims or arguments couldn't have been included.

I recommend first reading the book from cover to cover in order to understand how Kemp's "race precedes culture" thesis is born out again and again through the ages. The articles can become a little repetitive at times when you do this, because there is overlap between events in, say, Hungarian and Austrian history that must be repeated. However, this isn't really a criticism because this repetition is necessary to be able to read articles in isolation and at random, which is one of my favourite attributes of the book. Besides, repetition is a great way to reinforce learning. I have only read PART I thus far, but I most certainly will be ordering PART II based on my respect for and enjoyment of this first volume.… (mer)