You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
A gripping history of one of the United States' most controversial Cold War intelligence operations. Project Paperclip brought hundreds of German scientists and engineers, including aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun, to the United States in the first decade after World War II. More than the freighters full of equipment or the documents recovered from caves and hastily abandoned warehouses, the German brains who designed and built the V-2 rocket and other "wonder weapons" for the Third Reich proved invaluable to America's emerging military-industrial complex. Whether they remained under military employment, transitioned to civilian agencies like NASA, or sought more lucrative careers with ...
Significant recent research on the German Right between 1918 and 1933 calls into question received narratives of Weimar political history. The German Right in the Weimar Republic examines the role that the German Right played in the destabilization and overthrow of the Weimar Republic, with particular emphasis on the political and organizational history of Rightist groups as well as on the many permutations of right-wing ideology during the period. In particular, antisemitism and the so-called “Jewish Question” played a prominent role in the self-definition and politics of the right-wing groups and ideologies explored by the contributors to this volume.
Racializing the Soldier explores the impact of racial beliefs on the formation and development of modern armed forces and the ways in which these forces have been presented and historicized from a global perspective. With a wide geographical and temporal spread, the collection looks at the disparate ways that race has influenced military development. In particular, it explores the extent to which ideas of racial hierarchy and type have conditioned thinking about what kinds of soldiers should be used and in what roles. This volume offers a highly original military, social and cultural history, questioning the borders both of racialization and of the military itself. It considers the extent to...
Dwight Eisenhower’s encounter with the Holocaust altered how he understood the Second World War and shaped how he led the United States and the Western Alliance during the Cold War. This book is the first to blend scholarship on Eisenhower, World War II, and the Holocaust together, constructing a narrative that offers new insights into all three, all while uncovering the story of how he became among the first to vow that such atrocities would never again be allowed to happen. From the moment he stepped foot in the concentration camp Ohrdruf in April 1945, defeating Nazi Germany took on a moral hue for Eisenhower that had largely been absent before. It spurred the belief that totalitarianism in all its forms needed to be confronted. This conviction shaped his presidency and solidified American engagement in the postwar world. Putting these pieces of the story together alters how we view and understand the second half of the twentieth century.
This book delves into the evolution of Italian neo-fascism from the end of World War II to the mid-1970s. It examines the transition from historical fascism to neo-fascism, highlighting the survival and adaptation of fascist ideologies within democratic frameworks. This book explores the formation and development of the Italian Social Movement (MSI) and the broader neo-fascist network, emphasising its transnational connections and ideological persistence. Key themes include the escape and reorganisation of former fascists, their influence on post-war Italian politics, and the cultural and ideological debates within the neo-fascist movement. The work also addresses the role of race, anti-communism, and the strategic alliances formed during the Cold War. By tracing the historical and ideological continuities, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of neo-fascism's enduring impact on Italian and global political landscapes. It will be of interest to students and scholars of fascism, political history, and Italian politics.
Far from the image of an apolitical, “clean” Wehrmacht that persists in popular memory, German soldiers regularly cooperated with organizations like the SS in the abuse and murder of countless individuals during the Second World War. This in-depth study demonstrates that a key factor in the criminalization of the Wehrmacht was the intense political indoctrination imposed on its members. At the instigation of senior leadership, many ordinary German soldiers and officers became ideological warriors who viewed their enemies in racial and political terms—a project that was but one piece of the broader effort to socialize young men during the Nazi era.
Filmic constructions of war heroism have a profound impact on public perceptions of conflicts. Here, contributors examine the ways motifs of gender and heroism in war films are used to justify ideological positions, shape the understanding of the military conflicts, support political agendas and institutions, and influence collective memory.
A collection of historical and contemporary research and essays, Antisemitism on the Rise looks at antisemitism in the interwar period and today and provides examples for how to effectively teach about antisemitism.
This book reveals how ideas of comradeship shaped the actions and mindsets of ordinary German soldiers across the twentieth century.
How did millions of middle-class Germans come to support extreme nationalist and anti-democratic groups during the Weimar Republic? This troubling and pointedly argued book addresses this question through a targeted case study of Hof, a small Bavarian town, in the five years after the First World War. During this tumultuous period, a series of devastating crises and violent confrontations discredited the representatives of democratic liberalism and handed the initiative to a reinvigorated radical Right. Crucially, these crises were understood by Hof’s inhabitants as part of a broader “European Civil War” unleashed by the Russian Revolution and Treaty of Versailles. This detailed and disturbing study will be read with profit by students and scholars of modern history who seek new insights into the rise of the Nazis, and into the processes of popular radicalisation that did so much to bring about the destruction of the Weimar Republic.