The Lightning and the Sun

***The Lightning and the Sun*** is a 1958 book by [Savitri Devi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_Devi "Savitri Devi"), in which the author outlines her [esoteric Hitlerist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esoteric_Hitlerist "Esoteric Hitlerist") [philosophy of history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_history "Philosophy of history") along with her critique of the modern world. The book is known for the author's claim that [Adolf Hitler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler "Adolf Hitler") was an [avatar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar "Avatar") of the Hindu god [Vishnu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu "Vishnu") and its cyclical view of history, which Savitri Devi intertwines with [Nazism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism "Nazism"). It portrays Hitler as a "Man against Time", exhibiting both "Lightning and Sun" qualities: in Devi's worldview, destruction used for life-affirming purposes. Devi began writing the book in 1948 in Scotland, ultimately completing it in Germany in March 1956. It was initially self-published by Devi in 1958 in [Calcutta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcutta "Calcutta"), India, financed by Devi's job as an interpreter. The book was obscure for several years, until 1966, when an abridged version was published by [William Luther Pierce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Luther_Pierce "William Luther Pierce") in the [neo-Nazi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Nazi "Neo-Nazi") magazine [*National Socialist World*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_World "National Socialist World"). The 1966 republication exposed the book to a worldwide demographic of neo-Nazis and popularized it among them. The neo-Nazi publishing house Samisdat Publishers, operated by [Ernst Zündel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Z%C3%BCndel "Ernst Zündel"), issued a new illustrated edition in 1979. The book was excerpted in [Adam Parfrey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Parfrey "Adam Parfrey")'s 1987 anthology [*Apocalypse Culture*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Culture "Apocalypse Culture"). Described by scholars as Devi's most significant work, *The Lightning and the Sun* was greatly influential on neo-Nazis internationally and continues to be popular with the far-right. It has since been republished by a variety of neo-Nazi and [white nationalist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nationalist "White nationalist") publishing houses, including [National Vanguard Books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Vanguard_Books "National Vanguard Books"), [Counter-Currents Publishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Currents_Publishing "Counter-Currents Publishing"), and [Kerry Bolton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Bolton "Kerry Bolton")'s Renaissance Press. It introduced esoteric neo-Nazism to a wider audience of [white supremacists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_supremacists "White supremacists"); among the figures the work has influenced are [David Myatt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Myatt "David Myatt"), [Miguel Serrano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Serrano "Miguel Serrano"), and [William Luther Pierce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Luther_Pierce "William Luther Pierce").