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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Ethnic studies
Based on newly-discovered, secret documents from German archives,
diaries and newspapers of the time, Gun Control in the Third Reich
presents the definitive, yet hidden history of how the Nazi regime
made use of gun control to disarm and repress its enemies and
consolidate power. The countless books on the Third Reich and the
Holocaust fail even to mention the laws restricting firearms
ownership, which rendered political opponents and Jews defenseless.
A skeptic could surmise that a better-armed populace might have
made no difference, but the National Socialist regime certainly did
not think so - it ruthlessly suppressed firearm ownership by
disfavored groups. Gun Control in the Third Reich spans the two
decades from the birth of the Weimar Republic in 1918 through
Kristallnacht in 1938. The book then presents a panorama of
pertinent events during World War II regarding the effects of the
disarming policies. And even though in the occupied countries the
Nazis decreed the death penalty for possession of a firearm, there
developed instances of heroic armed resistance by Jews,
particularly the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
With An Uncommon Faith Eddie S. Glaude Jr. makes explicit his
pragmatic approach to the study of African American religion. He
insists that scholars take seriously what he calls black religious
attitudes, that is, enduring and deep-seated dispositions tied to a
transformative ideal that compel individuals to be otherwise?no
matter the risk. This claim emerges as Glaude puts forward a rather
idiosyncratic view of what the phrase "African American religion"
offers within the context of a critically pragmatic approach to
writing African American religious history. Ultimately, An Uncommon
Faith reveals how pragmatism has shaped Glaude's scholarship over
the years, as well as his interpretation of black life in the
United States. In the end, his analysis turns our attention to
those "black souls" who engage in the arduous task of self-creation
in a world that clings to the idea that white people matter more
than others. It is a task, he argues, that requires an uncommon
faith and deserves the close attention of scholars of African
American religion.
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