"The God that Failed"

Posted by TheFallen on April 07, 2003

In Reply to: "The God that Failed" posted by S. on April 07, 2003

: Does the phrase "the God that failed" predate the anticommunism book of the same name? I. e., is it lifted from Shakespeare or some one else?

: Thanks in advance for any help.

I can't find a reference to "the god that failed" from older literature. There are however several books using this title, either alone, or as part of a longer title. Amazon offers the following:-

The God That Failed (ed. Richard Crossman & Arthur Koestler - 1949)

Democracy - the God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order (Hans-Herman Hoppe)

The Other God That Failed (Hans Freyer)

India's Eucalyptus Craze: The God That Failed (N. Saxena)

Bhagwan: The God That Failed (Hugh Milne)

I haven't been able to track down the original publication dates of all the above, but it looks like Messrs. Crossman & Koestler can lay claim to the origination of the phrase. What's absolutely for sure is that Metallica borrowed the phrase to name a track from their eponymously titled 1991 album.

• "The God that Failed" S. 04/08/03