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An Unfinished History
by Dan Stone
Published to acclaim in the UK, an authoritative, revelatory new history of the Holocaust that "shatters many myths about the Nazis' genocide" (Sunday Times), from one of the leading scholars of his generation.
The Holocaust is much discussed, much memorialized, and much portrayed. But there are major aspects of its history that have been overlooked.
Spanning the entirety of the Holocaust, this sweeping history deepens our understanding. Dan Stone—Director of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London—reveals how the idea of "industrial murder" is incomplete: many were killed where they lived in the most brutal of ways. He outlines the depth of collaboration across Europe, arguing persuasively that we need to stop thinking of the Holocaust as an exclusively German project. He also considers the nature of trauma the Holocaust engendered, and why Jewish suffering has yet to be fully reckoned with. And he makes clear that the kernel to understanding Nazi thinking and action is genocidal ideology, providing a deep analysis of its origins.
Drawing on decades of research, The Holocaust: An Unfinished History upends much of what we think we know about the Holocaust. Stone draws on Nazi documents, but also on diaries, post-war testimonies, and even fiction, urging that, in our age of increasing nationalism and xenophobia, it is vital that we understand the true history of the Holocaust.
"A significant new history of the Holocaust from the director of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway... . Stone delivers a gripping account... . A painfully revealing, vital history." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[P]owerful...Concluding with a dire warning that the modern nation-state is a catalyst for racist and genocidal thinking that is today often targeted at migrants, Muslims, and other marginalized groups, this is an urgent new perspective on a much-studied calamity." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Stone's remarkable book offers both a narrative overview and an analysis of the events, challenging many common assumptions and often returning to how this terrible history remains 'unfinished.'" —The Guardian
"This vital history shatters many myths about the Nazis' genocide. ... Drawing on the latest scholarship in English and German, Stone's brisk, energetic book fizzes with ideas. Indeed, even if you think you know the subject, you'll probably find something here to make you think. ... An excellent book." —The Sunday Times (UK)
"A book that turns on their head some of the widely-held notions about that terrible era of genocide 80 years ago." —Daily Mail (UK)
"An important and challenging work." —Jewish Chronicle (UK)
"One of the best new publications presenting more complicated narratives of the Holocaust ... Dan Stone's The Holocaust: An Unfinished History, is an outstanding survey that updates the history of the European genocide of the Jews in a thought-provoking and informative way. ... Powerful." —Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"Drawing on his extensive own research and a vast range of work by historians from across the last eight decades, Stone sets about showing how our mental picture of the Holocaust is dangerously wrong. ... A vital and provocative book." —The Irish Times
"An outstanding book: well written, deeply felt, always perceptive and exhibiting considerable knowledge of decades of Holocaust scholarship. It will become the standard work in English on the subject for some time to come." —History Today (UK)
"Outstanding. … Deeply haunting. ... An engaging and accessible read that never hurries or shields the reader from its dark subject matter." —The Telegraph (UK)
This information about The Holocaust was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dan Stone is Professor of Modern History and Director of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and books, including: Histories of the Holocaust (Oxford University Press); The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and its Aftermath (Yale University Press); and Concentration Camps: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press).
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