This is an extremely enlightening and valuable historical work by Girard de Rialle on what came to be the most controversial symbol of the 20th Century--the swastika. Clearly an outstanding scholar, de Rialle was Chief of the Archives Division of the French Foreign Ministry in 1880 when he presented his findings on the swastika's meaning and origin to his Anthropology Society of Paris colleagues. Little did he know that 60 years later the "good luck charm," as people of ancient times regarded the swastika, would come to have a quite different meaning to tens of millions of people worldwide. We are most grateful to Robert K. Stevenson for his excellent translation of this masterly presentation by de Rialle.
-- Professor Gerald Kuhn