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Going Dark

The Secret Social Lives of Extremists

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Going Dark

By: Julia Ebner
Narrated by: Hera Reed
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Going Dark by Julia Ebner, read by Hera Reed.

A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Engaging and visceral ... Reads like a thriller' Financial Times
'Riveting and often deeply disturbing ... A punch to the stomach' Sunday Times
'Ebner has done some gutsy, thought-provoking research' Sunday Telegraph
'Fascinating and important' Spectator

By day, Julia Ebner works at a counter-extremism think tank, monitoring radical groups from the outside. But two years ago, she began to feel she was only seeing half the picture; she needed to get inside the groups to truly understand them. She decided to go undercover in her spare hours – late nights, holidays, weekends – adopting five different identities, and joining a dozen extremist groups from across the ideological spectrum.

Her journey would take her from a Generation Identity global strategy meeting in a pub in Mayfair, to a Neo-Nazi Music Festival on the border of Germany and Poland. She would get relationship advice from ‘Trad Wives’ and Jihadi Brides and hacking lessons from ISIS. She was in the channels when the alt-right began planning the lethal Charlottesville rally, and spent time in the networks that would radicalise the Christchurch terrorist.

In Going Dark, Ebner takes the listener on a deeply compulsive journey into the darkest recesses of extremist thinking, exposing how closely we are surrounded by their fanatical ideology every day, the changing nature and practice of these groups, and what is being done to counter them.

©2020 Julia Ebner (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Politics & Government Religious Studies Social Policy

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epic

Thoroughly facinating but also extremely well written wirh credibly sourced references. Write another book! PLEASE!!!

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Brilliant research and write up

I don’t often write reviews, however the reviews for this book were ambivalent at best and prohibitive at worst (I have no idea why) they almost stopped me getting it. That would have been a mistake.

I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but given the book’s content and that none of the criticisms were accurate. I wonder.

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Good read

Interesting topic. I learnt lots but I am particularly uninformed about modern extremism and don't engage a lot online. So likely too basic for someone versed on the subject. Book structure was unexpected with each chapter beginning with the author's personal experience of each group and re-telling of interactions with members of extremist groups in present tense. Perhaps the author wanted to tap into the thrill of spy books by including these anecdotes before discussion of issues or groups but this tactic to engage the audience may not appeal to everyone. Not as scintillating as I hoped but I'd still recommend.

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Lower your expectations.

Summarized: a career recount inside a book which benefits the authors fame rather than the intellect or education of our society.


I couldn't finish this book (I managed to listen to half): I will explain why.

I'm a big fan of true crime, psychology and non fiction; documentaries, books, podcasts etc. so from the start I wanted to enjoy this.

The title and premise was intriguing; from the outset I was hoping for a book which delved into a meaningful breakdown of how the social lives of extremists differs or is similar to normal people.


This isn't a meaningful look at extremist sociology, a breakdown of psycology, the police or justice system, a comprehensive look at societal responses or pressures, the responses or techniques from family members to assist extremists, or pretty much anything which isn't simply a recount of the authors personal experience and personal perspective on society as a whole.

Scientific/psychological literature is sparse and misused, and the book name drops famous and controversial modern people (such as Jordan Peterson) without actually ever discussing to length context or response.


The book contains too much personal perspective from the author for the subject being handled. The language and description is akin to a fiction novel (rather than true crime or educational) - describing in detail "how she felt" when she spoke to extremists. These descriptions aren't nessesary and pad out the book longer than it needs to be.

I've researched the author - this is one of the first books she has written; and it shows.

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