A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2015A Kirkus Reviews Best History Book of 2015Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in the Holocaust categoryThe first comprehensive history of the Nazi concentration campsIn a landmark work of history; Nikolaus Wachsmann offers an unprecedented; integrated account of the Nazi concentration camps from their inception in 1933 through their demise; seventy years ago; in the spring of 1945. The Third Reich has been studied in more depth than virtually any other period in history; and yet until now there has been no history of the camp system that tells the full story of its broad development and the everyday experiences of its inhabitants; both perpetrators and victims; and all those living in what Primo Levi called "the gray zone."In KL; Wachsmann fills this glaring gap in our understanding. He not only synthesizes a new generation of scholarly work; much of it untranslated and unknown outside of Germany; but also presents startling revelations; based on many years of archival research; about the functioning and scope of the camp system. Examining; close-up; life and death inside the camps; and adopting a wider lens to show how the camp system was shaped by changing political; legal; social; economic; and military forces; Wachsmann produces a unified picture of the Nazi regime and its camps that we have never seen before.A boldly ambitious work of deep importance; KL is destined to be a classic in the history of the twentieth century.
#2419339 in Books 2004-11-03 2004-10-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.37 x 6.34 x 9.16l; #File Name: 0374299757400 pages
Review
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Disappointed in lack of Author's viewBy ctellerRead this for a class with Custerology and Rez Life - both of which I would recommend. Shades of Hiawatha though; was more like reading a mixture of what many others had said before. I wish the author would have spent more time developing own opinion; own words; own viewpoint and message to share with the reader.I enjoyed reading about the photographers and their views of Native Americans; what if anything they wanted to accomplish; but I hated that this was only a small portion of the book. Most of the books seemed to be in quotes.2 of 40 people found the following review helpful. A Book About Alan TrachtenbergBy LarryCDo you know how clever Alan Trachtenberg is? I mean; do you really; really know?! Because if not; this book is for you. Trachtenberg's book is only superficially about Indians or Americans; it is about the obscure conections he can draw between unrelated things--because he is very clever; you know. In so far as this book has a thesis; that it is it.
