From the author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Hitler in Los Angeles, the definitive story of the rise and fall of hate groups in America from 1945 until the late 1970s, and of the intrepid activists and spies who brought them down.

Americans today like to believe that the end of World War II brought a decrease in hate and a new era of tolerance in the United States. Nothing could be further from the truth. Antisemitism and racism went up—not down—after the war’s end. Violence broke out in cities across the country, and the number of organized hate groups more than doubled from 1940 to 1946. In this shocking account of a resurgence of white supremacy in America, celebrated historian Steven J. Ross reveals how four key leaders—Emory Burke, J. B. Stoner, James Madole, and George Lincoln Rockwell—worked together to “finish the job Hitler had begun,” launching deadly attacks on Jews and African Americans and building a network of terrorists across the U.S. In response to this “war of hate,” three New York–based men—Robert Forster of the Anti­-Defamation League, George Mintzer of the American Jewish Committee, and James Sheldon of the Non­-Sectarian Anti-­Nazi League—along with dozens of men and women, launched a multipronged effort: They infiltrated, monitored, and undermined these hate groups, putting their own safety on the line and scoring important victories that, today, have been all but forgotten.

Tracing the extraordinary work of these unsung heroes, The Secret War Against Hate provides a groundbreaking reconsideration of the legacy of the “Good War,” and essential reading on how America today can beat hate once again and build a just and united nation.