From Fiction to Fury: Cold War Survivalist Literature and Far-Right Paramilitarism

This paper examines the intersection of Cold War-era survivalist manuals, fiction, and the rise of domestic paramilitary organizations in the United States, focusing on how fantasies of American decline and guerrilla warfare intertwined with fears of racial and sexual disorder. The readership of these texts were not limited to men but also promoted by women’s anti-communist groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Minute Women. The paper traces how the fictional worlds in these works bled into real-world paramilitary organizations, such as the Minutemen and the Rangers, reflecting the fluid exchange between fantasy and action.

Drawing on texts like The John Franklin Letters and Dallas Roquemore’s Get Ye Up Into the High Mountain, the paper explores how these survivalist manuals and novels combined a dystopian vision of a post-invasion United States—one overtaken by Third World communist enemies—with “real-world” survivalist tactics and guerrilla warfare strategies.

These works tapped into deep fears of losing national control and social order. They fueled anxieties about racial mixing, the collapse of white supremacy, and the destruction of traditional gender roles. They imagined a future plagued by sexual chaos, lawlessness, and revenge from the Third World—a world in which American identity itself was unraveled. The solution to this apocalyptic vision was clear: organize, arm yourself, and create real-world networks. These fantasies were enacted by individuals who prepared for an imminent attack, bringing the fictional to life in their daily lives.