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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
Her memoirs cover the pre WWII period of the 1930's in her birth
country, Bulgaria and her growing up in the German and Russian
cultures of her parents and that of Bulgaria. The uprooting of her
family because of WWII and subsequent events tells of the
increasing horrors and dislocations not only of her family but that
of countless others.
This book examines works of four German-Jewish scholars who, in
their places of exile, sought to probe the pathology of the Nazi
mind: Wilhelm Reich's The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), Erich
Fromm's Escape from Freedom (1941), Siegfried Kracauer's From
Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film
(1947), and Erich Neumann's Depth Psychology and a New Ethic
(1949). While scholars have examined these authors' individual
legacies, no comparative analysis of their shared concerns has yet
been undertaken, nor have the content and form of their
psychological inquiries into Nazism been seriously and
systematically analyzed. Yet, the sense of urgency in their works
calls for attention. They all took up their pens to counter Nazi
barbarism, believing, like the English jurist and judge Sir William
Blackstone, who wrote in 1753 - scribere est agere ("to write is to
act").
This soldier's pocketbook from 1944, and the tale of its creation,
reveal a fascinating moment of history: a snapshot of prejudices,
expectations, assumptions and fears. It was created in conditions
of secrecy to prepare British and Allied soldiers for entering and
occupying Germany - but at a time when even victory was not
guaranteed. What would they face? How would they be treated? How
would they manage a population they were used to thinking of only
as "enemy combatants"?Part practical guide, part everyman's history
of the German people, part propaganda tool, it is an instantly
absorbing window on an uncertain time. It shows how the Allied
civilian and military command wanted to condition the ordinary
serviceman's thoughts about what he would encounter. Today's reader
will find here opinionated comment and crude stereotype, but also
subtle insights and humor - intentional and unintentional. The
pocketbook says as much about the mindset of its British compilers
as it does about the German people or about the Nazi regime that
eventually the soldiers would topple. An illuminating introduction,
drawing on the National Archives' unique original records, reveals
the intelligence community's misgivings and disagreements about the
content of the pocketbook as it went through its various stages.
The War for Legitimacy in Politics and Culture 1936-1946 presents
the first investigation of how the phenomenon of political
legitimacy operated within Europe's political cultures during the
period of the Second World War. Amidst the upheavals of that
turbulent period in Europe's twentieth-century history, a wide
variety of contenders for power emerged, each of which claimed to
possess the right to rule.Exploring political discourse, state
propaganda, and high and low culture, the book argues that
legitimacy lay not with rulers, and still less in the barrel of a
gun, but in the values behind differing approaches to "good"
government. An important contribution to the study of the political
culture of wartime Europe, this volume will be essential reading
for both political scientists and twentieth-century historians.
View the Table of Contents. Read the Preface.
"Laboras Home Front is an outstanding contribution. Balanced and
fair-minded, Kerstenas richly documented account puts the AFL at
the center of wartime labor relations and domestic history
generally. . . . Kersten also sheds new light on the key role of
the AFL in the emergence of social democratic liberalism during the
era of World War II."
--Robert H. Zieger, University of Florida
"Labor's Home Front is the work of a careful and thorough
historian. Kersten establishes the centrality of the often
neglected American Federation of Labor to the story of labor's
uphill efforts during World War II to breathe life into the lofty
ideals embodied in the Four Freedoms. He skillfully weaves his case
studies--on gender, race, union rivalries, safety, the open shop,
and postwar planning--into a narrative fully attentive to the
evolution of the Federation's ideology and politics, poignantly
conveying the spirit of sacrifice and suffering without
romanticizing his subjects. This is a genuinely important
book."
--Eric Arnesen, author of "Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad
Workers and the Struggle for Equality"
One of the oldest, strongest, and largest labor organizations in
the U.S., the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had 4 million
members in over 20,000 union locals during World War II. The AFL
played a key role in wartime production and was a major actor in
the contentious relationship between the state, organized labor,
and the working class in the 1940s. The war years are pivotal in
the history of American labor, but books on the AFL's experiences
are scant, with far more on the radical Congress of Industrial
Unions(CIO).
Andrew E. Kersten closes this gap with Labor's Home Front,
challenging us to reconsider the AFL and its influence on
twentieth-century history. Kersten details the union's
contributions to wartime labor relations, its opposition to the
open shop movement, divided support for fair employment and equity
for women and African American workers, its constant battles with
the CIO, and its significant efforts to reshape American society,
economics, and politics after the war. Throughout, Kersten frames
his narrative with an original, central theme: that despite its
conservative nature, the AFL was dramatically transformed during
World War II, becoming a more powerful progressive force that
pushed for liberal change.
"Al Ataque" is an excellent book that describes the preparation a
bomb group goes through before being deployed overseas as well as
the problems of shipping some five thousand men and supplies along
with some eighty B-24 aircraft from a stateside base to a foreign
country. The book then details the establishment of Torretta Field
that was used by the 461st for the duration of the war in Europe.
The 461st Bomb Group flew two hundred and twenty-three combat
missions between April 1944 and April 1945. Each of these is
described in the book. Personal experiences of veterans who were
actually part of the 461st are included.
"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a
big lie than to a small one." Adolf Hitler The only edition of Mein
Kampf officially sanctioned by the Nazi Foreign Office in the
English language was the edition translated and introduced by James
Murphy. The illustrated edition using his translation was first
published in the UK in 1939 in 22 weekly parts by Hutchison and Co
Ltd. This authentic edition brings together that entire series
complete with Murphy's 1939 introduction and a new introduction by
Emmy AwardTM winning historian Bob Carruthers, and includes over
250 photographs. Murphy's was the only translation which was
officially endorsed by the Nazi party during Hitler's lifetime and
as such represents an opportunity to approach the work as it was
presented to contemporary readers. This was the version of 'Mein
Kampf' which the Nazi party hoped would spread the gospel of
National Socialism throughout the UK, but by the time publication
was underway World War II had commenced. Somewhat surprisingly,
publication of the weekly illustrated edition was allowed to
continue although all proceeds from the sale were diverted to the
British Red Cross. This new publication of the entire primary
source provides the reader with access to the complete historical
document and provides a unique insight into the past by reproducing
'Mein Kampf' as it was presented to British readers in the
thirties.
Since unification, the Federal Republic of Germany has made vaunted
efforts to make amends for the crimes of the Third Reich. Yet it
remains the case that the demands for restitution by many countries
that were occupied during the Second World War are unresolved, and
recent demands from Greece and Poland have only reignited old
debates. This book reconstructs the German occupation of Poland and
Greece and gives a thorough accounting of these debates. Working
from the perspective of international law, it deepens the scholarly
discourse around the issue, clarifying the 'never-ending story' of
German reparations policy and making a principled call for further
action. A compilation of primary sources comprising 125 annotated
key texts (512 pages) on the complexity of reparations discussions
covering the period between 1941 and the end of 2017 is available
for free on the Berghahn Books website, doi:
10.3167/9781800732575.dd.
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