The Turner Diaries Analysis

Twenty-years ago on April 19, Timothy McVeigh – a decorated army veteran – committed one of the worst acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. This horrific attack claimed the lives of 168 people, including 19 children, at a federal office building in Oklahoma City. During his trial in 2001, prosecutors alleged that McVeigh was inspired by the neo-Nazi novel The Turner Diaries, which describes a bombing of the F.B.I. headquarters with a homemade bomb. According to prosecutors, McVeigh was found with excerpts of the novel in his car after the attack.
As with many cases in history, literature – and other forms of art – has served as the progenitor for violent crimes. Even today, books that seem to glorify violence, such as William Golding’s