'An evil culture takes on a life of its own. The Allure of Evil Destruction and violence are anything but banal'

Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Study in the Banality of Evil is a study in the banality of evil.

The idea that evil is banal has become a virtual cliché in the decades since the work was published.

But there are very serious grounds for rejecting the thesis, even in Eichman's own case.

Evil is often exhilarating and exciting, writes Julian Zelizer.

Freud knew that human beings are not at root rational; we are creatures of desire.

Fascism and Nazism were attractive to its people with the unspoken promise that they would bring with them a sexual power and allure that the banal, non-descript citizen lacked in himself.

The attraction of Nazism was precisely its apparent guarantee of non-banality.