Nazism, War and Genocide: New Perspectives on the History of the Third Reich

This volume of specially commissioned essays based on the latest archival research brings together contributions by internationally recognised scholars. It provides a new approach to the history of Nazism's racial policy, its socail policy, its planning for war and genocide and its legacy.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface 1 Neil Gregor Nazism- A Political Religion? Rethinking the Voluntarist Turn 2 Jane Caplan Political Detention and the Origin of Concentration Camps in Nazi Germany, 1933-1935/6 3 Dick Geary Working-Class Identities in the Third Reich 4 Robert Gellately Social Outsiders and the Consolidation of Hitler's Dictatorship, 1933-1939 5 Nikolaus Wachsmann 'Soldiers of the Home Front': Jurists and Legal Terror during the Second World War 6 Jill Stephenson Germans, Slavs and the Burden of Work in Rural Southern Germany during the Second World War 7 Ian Kershaw Did Hitler Miss his Chance in 1940?

About the Author :
Neil Gregor is Reader in Modern German History at the University of Southampton. His previous publications include Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich (1998) (winner of the Fraenkel Prize for Contemporary History; shortlisted for the Longman/History Today Book of the Year); and Nazism: A Reader (2000).

Review :
... interesting, informative and scholarly collection ... ... this book is an ideal way for undergraduates, graduate students, lay people or specialists in other fields to quickly learn the essentials of our current knowledge of some of the central issues surrounding the history of the Third Reich. ... a series of strong and well-crafted essays by leading historians, all of whom are internationally recognized specialists. Because of Noakes's dual importance as both researcher and pedagogue, the participating authors made a conscious choice to write broadly-based critical essays rather than more narrow works of original research. The book is indeed a success in that the articles are uniformly of high quality and all give masterful critical discussions of the current state of research. Not only do these essays engage in fruitful dialogue with the life work of Jeremy Noakes, they also often can be read against and with each other in useful ways. [...] The book thus offers a good illustration of the contingency of historical scholarship, which will make it particularly good reading for advanced students. Nazism, War and Genocide will be essential reading for students of the period. The result is a richly-defined overview of the historiography of Nazi Germany in the early 21st century, which reveals how the focus of historical investigation and evaluation of issues have changed and developed since Noakes' first published article of 1966. For every History department throughout Britain, Nazism, War and Genocide is a horn of plenty. Taken together, the essays presented in this collection do a splendid job of summarizing and criticizing the state of our knowledge of the fields they cover. All are further characterized by a very accessible style and great readability. [...] For now at least, this book is an ideal way for undergraduates, graduate students, lay people or specialists in other fields to quickly learn the essentials of our current knowledge of some of the central issues surrounding the history of the Third Reich. ... should be a compulsory purchase for every History department across Britain. The editor of Nazism, War and Genocide, Neil Gregor, has further enhanced his reputation as an energetic, cerebral and radical historian. These essays are highly informative and are to be recommended for both scholars and students as starting points to the topics to which they do such justice. ... the essays presented in this collection do a splendid job of summarizing and criticising the state of our knowledge of the fields they cover. All are further characterized by a very accessible style and great readability.