“Jonathan, I Hardly Knew Ye”

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This is my Foreword to Edward Dutton’s biography of Jonathan Bowden, Shaman of the Radical Right: The Life and Mind of Jonathan Bowden (Imperium Press, 2025).

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Edward Dutton’s biography of Jonathan Bowden is a revelation. I thought I knew Jonathan Bowden. I even thought we were becoming friends. But the truth was, I hardly knew him at all. Yes, I knew his ideas. But I didn’t know the man or his mind.

After Jonathan’s untimely death just a couple weeks short of his 50th birthday, his friends began to compare notes. Soon it became clear that Jonathan was a liar. He lied about his occupation and income. He lied about his education. He lied about his family. He lied about where he lived.

Nobody blames Jonathan for lying about where he lived. That was simply a matter of security. Every dissident should cocoon his private life in disinformation.

But most of Jonathan’s lies were simply matters of vanity. His lies always magnified him. They never minimized him. He claimed to be wealthy, not poor. He claimed to have degrees that he didn’t earn, not that he was an omnivorous autodidact. He claimed to have a wife and four or five children, not that he was a bachelor.

I first met Jonathan on two occasions in October of 2009 when I was living in Atlanta, first when he came to give a speech, then when he returned from a visit to Florida before flying back to England. Jonathan was an early and enthusiastic supporter of my webzine and publishing house, Counter-Currents. In all, he wrote 35 articles and reviews for us between 2010 and 2012.

In January of 2011, Jonathan emailed me saying that his life was in danger. He was being stalked by antifa types. I was living in San Francisco at the time and had an extra room. I told him to pack his grip and fly to California. I was willing to put him up for a while. I thought it would be interesting. I also thought Jonathan might be more productive if he had a regular internet connection, a microphone, and access to my library. But I received no reply.

In February, Adrian Davies informed me that Jonathan had had a mental breakdown. The police had picked him up, semi-clothed, in the streets of London, carrying a samurai sword. (When I first met him, he was carrying a box marked “Samurai Sword, Made in Taiwan.” Inside it were two of his paintings that he sold to me.)

I felt I had dodged a bullet.

By March, however, Jonathan seemed back to normal. He began writing for Counter-Currents again. In February of 2012, he came to California for nearly a week to speak at a Counter-Currents retreat. His speech was excellent, and he was in good spirits throughout.

One of my fondest memories is of Jonathan walking through the streets of Santa Cruz, deep in a discussion of astrology with one of Charlie Manson’s old girlfriends. I thought to myself, “What an interesting life I lead.”

I also remember his childlike wonder as we wandered around City Lights Books, with its connections to the Beat movement and Leftist politics. I took to calling him “the inspector,” for when he wanted to read something, he would draw out a magnifying glass from his trench coat pocket.

By the end of the visit, I felt we were becoming friends, that I was finally getting to know him. We made plans for him to return to California that fall. I looked forward to taking him to Robinson Jeffers’ Tor House near Carmel. But it was not to be. Less than a month later, Jonathan was dead.

Edward Dutton has done a great service to Jonathan’s friends and readers. He has recorded memories before death claims them. He has saved documents from the teeth of time. He has untangled the truth about Jonathan’s life from his web of fantasies and deceptions. He has sorted out the facts about Jonathan’s family, his education, and the many groups he was involved in: the Monday Club, Western Goals, the Spinning Top Club, the London New Right, IONA, the London Forum, etc. He has also thrown considerable light on Jonathan’s mind, including its eccentricities and illnesses. It all comes into focus. Thank you, Ed.

What’s the lesson? Jonathan Bowden didn’t tell the truth about his life. But that’s not a rare failing. Jonathan Bowden did, however, have the courage to tell the truth about the most important issues of our time, and he did so with eloquence and impact. For that, he will always remain a hero and a guide.

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