ePub Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction (Making History) by Martin Gilbert in History

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. First Class History by a First Class HistorianBy EarlBI am a big fan of Martin Gilbert's books and this one is no different. While each of his books vary in subject; they are all of equal quality; and this is no exception. It is the ultimate definition of information and history: top quality history. For all those interested in either Kristallnacht or the prelude the Holocaust; and even more so for those interested in both; this source is invaluable.As I have alluded to; this book more or less touches upon two subjects: that of Kristallnacht; the night; its prelude and aftermath; and also a comprehensive and simply fascinating to the situation of Jewry during the two or three crucial years following it. On neither of these subjects does this book have room for improvement.Also; besides for a history of the happenings of Kristallnacht; Gilbert brings scores of eye-witness accounts which are of equal value to the reader and of even more so to the researcher. Furthermore; it is required reading as part of the history of the Holocaust.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Another stellar contributionBy Matthew SmithOne of the things I really like about Martin Gilbert's works is how he brings history back down to the personal level. Instead of a deluge of numbers and benign facts and dates he uses personal; eyewitness accounts in his works. This reminds us that what we are reading is real and affected actual human beings. This forces the reader to truly face the reality of what happened and understand the true toll of these events. Of course in doing this kind of book the author must walk a fine line between giving the reader enough personal accounts to keep the reader focused on the human aspects of the historical event; and not too many so as to deluge the reader and bog the work down in to relentless tedium. In my opinion the author has done a fine job with this book in walking that line.Kristallnacht is very detailed work that doesn't limit itself to major cities; but instead goes into detail about what happened with each Jewish community during this event. The book goes into detail about the psychological affects on the Jewish community of this event; and how this event really brought home to the German and Austrian Jews the precariousness of their situation. As the reality of this night set in there was a renewed effort to escape the Nazi regime.What I really like about this book is how it talks about some of the heroes. Every nationality and government; down to regular citizens had some very brave individuals who followed their conscience to do a service to humanity rather than take the easy way and quietly acquiesce to their superior's demands. These; tragically; few individuals created a bright spot in a world of darkness; and this is the power of these books that focus on the micro instead of the macro.My only real criticism is that the author focused exclusively on the Jewish perspective of Kristallnacht; and because of this narrow focus I felt the book was somewhat incomplete. I would have been very pleased had the author added a chapter detailing the German perspective. Those who participated on the ground level; those who simply stood by and those who actually stood against the racist tide. This book is peppered here and there with some superficial accounts of German actions; but these are from the Jewish perspective and quite fleeting. Kristallnacht was more than a Jewish experience. It had to have a profound effect on the ordinary German and Austrian citizen as well. Up to that point they may have been able to assuage their moral qualms about the Nazi regime with the fact that it hadn't really shown its true colors. They probably attributed prior abuses to the newness of the government and assumed it would be tempered with time; but after this event they had to have some realization of just how bad things were going to get. I would have loved to have had some personal accounts from German perspective; but this was lacking and as such I found the work lacking as well.All in all I still found the work to be very readable and very informative. The author has a great talent for writing and a wealth of knowledge and information. I think anyone would get a lot out of this book which is why I still give it four stars even with my disappointment with the possible omission of the German and Austrian perspective. I certainly recommend this book to anyone interested in this event or time period.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Shannon L ClaytonInformative.