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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. "A stunning, original, concise analysis. ... Masterful." --Wendy Lower, author of Hitler's Furies 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.
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I had to listen to this on audiobook as I was sure it would be too easy to quit in print form. A hugely hugely important book — the kind of book you wish every pundit and politician would read and that every pastor and imam and rabbi and talk radio host had read. Here in Spring 2024, as Israel wages total war on the civilians trapped in Gaza, it’s an absolutely chilling read. I thought I knew a lot about the Holocaust but I learned a good deal in each chapter, and especially I learned a new perspective that puts the rise of the Alt-Right in the US and Europe into sharp relief and gives me chills. Easily one of the top books of the 21st C so far.