The practice of yoga promises peace, self-realisation and release, thanks to the power of its 'mystic' Indian origins. But what if this is just hype? In Fascist Yoga, Stewart Home sweeps away the half-truths to tell a new origin story of the world's first modern yogi – a Californian escapologist who added some Hindu fairy dust to gym and circus exercises.

Ever since, the world of yoga has been full of grifters, occultists and white supremacists, all out to exploit and recruit via the medium of exercise. From cult leaders to brainwashed followers, TV celebrities and fake gurus, the story of yoga has involved some of the strangest currents of humanity.

Today, the COVID pandemic has activated elements within the modern yoga movement to espouse far-right conspiracies, and QAnon's fascist political programmes mirror some of yoga's key early proponents.

In this new exposé, Stewart Home shows that nothing is sacred.

We are delighted to have cult author Stewart Home joining us to launch this book at boohhaus. Tickets cost £6 and include a glass of wine or a soft drink and £2 off the book. Presented by bookhaus.

'With this scabrous broadside, Stewart Home exposes Hatha yoga's political shadow. His painstaking research reveals a hidden, decidedly inauthentic history as murky as it is intriguing. Teasing a thread from a pair of dhoti pants, soon the whole garment threatens to fall apart before our eyes'

- Matthew Ingram, author of The Garden and Retreat
'Anything Stewart Home writes, thinks, fancies, or loathes intrigues me. Reading Home is a special experience, dizzying. Home turns things upside down and shakes them up, and sometimes he recites his work standing on his head. Engaging with him, you might land on your head, also'

- Lynne Tillman, author of Weird Fucks and Mothercare

Entry requirements: no age restrictions — Read more — Read less