Genocide on Trial: War Crimes Trials and the Formation of History and Memory [Hardcover]

Donald Bloxham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2001

When the Allies tried German war criminals at the end of World War II they were attempting not only to punish the guilty but also to set down a history of Nazism and of what had happened in Europe. Yet as Donald Bloxham shows in this incisive account, the reality was that these proceedings failed. Not only did the guilty often escape punishment but the final solution was largely written out of history in the post-war era.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A well-researched project and one of great interest ... is a significant addition to our understanding of the preconceptions and purposes of the War Crimes Trials ... addresses the origins of our understanding of the history of the Holocaust. Reviews in History Awesome precision ... this book is essential for scholars and the lawyers at the Hague could do a lot worse than to add it to their legal armoury. David Cesarani, Ham & High (Hampstead & Highgate Express) This excellent book reminds us that one of the many ways to hit historical gold is to reshuffle the cards and deal them afresh ... Dr Bloxham writes so well and manages the three-ringed circus of this argument so deftly that his book is a lot easier to read and its argument easier to follow than might have been expected of an enterprise boldly transcending the departmental boundaries of law, history and politics ... beautifully produced. English Historical Review Offers much food for thought for contemporary and future historians interested in the Holocaust and in Nazism in general. Journal of the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association

About the Author

Donald Bloxham is at Leverhulme Research Fellow, University of Southampton.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198208723
• ISBN-13: 978-0198208723
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,773,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and Authoritative, September 15, 2002

By 

peter maguire (NY,NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Genocide on Trial: War Crimes Trials and the Formation of History and Memory (Hardcover)

Donald Bloxham's Genocide on Trial is among the most comprehensive and authoritative studies of post World War II war crimes trials ever written. Unlike most books on the subject, Bloxham does not limit his study to Nuremberg's International Military Tribunal. He reviews the vast majority of Allied war crimes trials and also the premature releases of convicted war criminals during the 1950s. Using new archival sources, Bloxham documents the British government's premature releases of prominent war criminals (like Kesselring and von Manstein) during the Cold War. The author convincingly proves his contention "that war crimes trials did little to clarify conceptualizations of Nazi criminality in the public sphere anywhere." Genocide on Trial should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the history of war crimes trials.