While most analyses of the French National Front (NF) see it as a threat to democracy, the exact nature of this threat has never been clearly defined. Drawing on interviews with leading far-right figures and access to internal party documents, this book identifies the NF as a modern fascist party. The authors produce an uncompromising assessment of attempts to confront the NF and explain how it emerged as the leading challenger to a discredited mainstream in the 2002 presidential election.