Awards

• Commended for Lukas Prize Project (Lynton History Prize) 2008
• Commended for National Jewish Book Award (Holocaust) 2007
• Winner of Pulitzer Prize (Nonfiction) 2008

Overview

An authoritative and magisterial survey on the Holocaust by one of the world's leading experts “A masterful synthesis that draws on a lifetime of learning and research.” --Publishers Weekly (starred review) The extermination of the Jews triggers disbelief. This volume presents a thorough historical study of the events that extends beyond the usual analysis of German policies, decisions, and measures that led to this most systematic and sustained of modern genocides. It includes the reactions of the surrounding world--authorities, populations, churches, social elites--related facets of everyday life throughout the continent, and their individual expressions. The history of the victims is an intrinsic part of this overall context; their attitudes found expression in both collective responses and individual testimonies. Here, the individual voices are weaved into the narrative and are the main carriers of disbelief: Some of them end in liberation; most are cut short by extermination.

Full Product Details

9780060190439

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Reviews

"""One of the most important works of historical writing in recent years, and deserves to live in the company of works by Raul Hilberg, Lucy Dawidowicz, and Leni Yahil as one of the finest comprehensive studies of this darkest subject of all."" -- New Republic ""Establishes itself as the standard historical work on Nazi Germany's mass murder of Europe's Jews. . An account of unparalleled vividness and power that reads like a novel. . . . A masterpiece that will endure."" -- New York Times Book Review ""Saul Friedlander's massive history of the Holocaust is a judicious, authoritative and restrained study. But it's also a stark reminder that lunacy may have been as much a part of Nazism as cruelty."" -- Newsweek ""A masterful synthesis that draws on a lifetime of learning and research."" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""In this second compelling volume of Friedländer's history of the Holocaust (see its predecessor, Nazi Germany and the Jews: Volume 1: The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939), the author takes into account recent scholarship on the Holocaust but avoids bogging down in the intentionalist/functionalist historiographic debate."" -- Library Journal ""The second volume, like the first, lends the impression that 'you are there, ' a witness with a kaleidoscopic panorama of history that juxtaposes the cries and whispers of ordinary men, women and children against the sadistic bombast of Hitler, his henchmen and their many helpers eager to indulge villainous appetites and vicious prejudices. These stories are woven together in a tapestry that comes to life (and death) by the vivid recall of eyewitnesses to what they otherwise could not have believed."" -- Washington Times ""THE YEARS OF EXTERMINATION: Nazi Germany and the Jews 1939-1945 by Saul Friedlander is a follow-up to his early work... which together provide a remarkable comprehensive history."" -- Jewish Week ""Friedlander's book offers a useful, updated panorama of the events of the Holocaust."" -- Washington Post Book World ""A monumental triumph. . . . I have no hesitation in ranking Friedlander's two volumes as among the very best that we have so far."" -- Matt Nesvisky, Jerusalem Report"

""One of the most important works of historical writing in recent years, and deserves to live in the company of works by Raul Hilberg, Lucy Dawidowicz, and Leni Yahil as one of the finest comprehensive studies of this darkest subject of all."" -- New Republic ""Establishes itself as the standard historical work on Nazi Germany's mass murder of Europe's Jews. . An account of unparalleled vividness and power that reads like a novel. . . . A masterpiece that will endure."" -- New York Times Book Review ""Saul Friedlander's massive history of the Holocaust is a judicious, authoritative and restrained study. But it's also a stark reminder that lunacy may have been as much a part of Nazism as cruelty."" -- Newsweek ""A masterful synthesis that draws on a lifetime of learning and research."" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""In this second compelling volume of Friedländer's history of the Holocaust (see its predecessor, Nazi Germany and the Jews: Volume 1: The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939), the author takes into account recent scholarship on the Holocaust but avoids bogging down in the intentionalist/functionalist historiographic debate."" -- Library Journal ""The second volume, like the first, lends the impression that 'you are there, ' a witness with a kaleidoscopic panorama of history that juxtaposes the cries and whispers of ordinary men, women and children against the sadistic bombast of Hitler, his henchmen and their many helpers eager to indulge villainous appetites and vicious prejudices. These stories are woven together in a tapestry that comes to life (and death) by the vivid recall of eyewitnesses to what they otherwise could not have believed."" -- Washington Times ""THE YEARS OF EXTERMINATION: Nazi Germany and the Jews 1939-1945 by Saul Friedlander is a follow-up to his early work... which together provide a remarkable comprehensive history."" -- Jewish Week ""Friedlander's book offers a useful, updated panorama of the events of the Holocaust."" -- Washington Post Book World ""A monumental triumph. . . . I have no hesitation in ranking Friedlander's two volumes as among the very best that we have so far."" -- Matt Nesvisky, Jerusalem Report

Author Information

Born in Prague, Saul Friedländer spent his boyhood in Nazi-occupied France. He is a professor of history at UCLA, and has written numerous books on Nazi Germany and World War II.

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