Of all the controversies facing historians today, few are more divisive or more important than the question of how the Holocaust was possible. What led thousands of Germans – many of them middle-aged reservists with, apparently, little Nazi zeal – to willingly commit acts of genocide? Was it ideology? Was there something rotten in the German soul? Or was it – as Christopher Browning argues in this highly influential book – more a matter of conformity, a response to intolerable social and psychological pressure?
Ordinary Men is a microhistory, the detailed study of a single unit in the Nazi killing machine. Browning evaluates a wide range of evidence to seek to explain the actions of the "ordinary men" who made up reserve Police Battalion 101, taking advantage of the wide range of resources prepared in the early 1960s for a proposed war crimes trial. He concludes that his subjects were not "evil;" rather, their actions are best explained by a desire to be part of a team, not to shirk responsibility that would otherwise fall on the shoulders of comrades, and a willingness to obey authority.
Browning's ability to explore the strengths and weaknesses of arguments – both the survivors' and other historians' – is what sets his work apart from other studies that have attempted to get to the root of the motivations for the Holocaust, and it is also what marks Ordinary Men as one of the most important works of its generation.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Dr James Chappel completed his PhD in Modern History at Columbia University and is currently teaching at Duke University. His work focuses on the intellectual, political and Religious History of Modern Europe.
Dr Thomas Stammers is lecturer in Modern European history at Durham University, where he specialises in the Cultural History of France in the age of revolution. He is the author of Collection, Recollection, Revolution: Scavenging the Past in Nineteenth-Century Paris. Dr Stammers’s research interests include a wide range of historiographical and theoretical controversies related to eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 5.73
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Book Description hardback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781912302451
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. 98 pages. 7.80x5.20x0.39 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __1912302454
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. 0.35. Seller Inventory # 1912302454-2-1
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new1912302454
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover1912302454
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard1912302454
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon1912302454
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think1912302454
Book Description Gebunden. Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. Dr James Chappel completed his PhD in Modern History at Columbia University and is currently teaching at Duke University. His work focuses on the intellectual, political and Religious History of Modern Europe. Dr Thomas St. Seller Inventory # 342933659