Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2019 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — History, Geography & Area Studies — Western Europe

One of the first of several immediate postwar engagements with the Hungarian Holocaust, this volume--originally published in 1947 and now translated into English--breaks the myth of silence that the Holocaust historiography claimed has marked this period. Munkacsi, who served as secretary of the Hungarian Jewish Council set up by the Nazis after their invasion of Hungary in March 1944, witnessed the reduction of wartime Hungary's 762,000-strong Jewish community to around a third of this number. After the war he produced a narrative that is a key primary source for the developments in Hungary from March to October 1944, an informed discussion of the Council's limited sphere of action, and a work of self-defense against accusations of its passivity and cooperation with the Nazis and Hungarian fascists in the rounding up and deportation of Jews from the provinces. The book can thus be read productively in conjunction with the rich secondary literature on other Jewish Councils set up by the Nazis in places like Warsaw and Lodz for a more nuanced understanding of the dilemmas of Jewish leaders. The book also includes an excellent contextual essay, glossary, biographical note, and critical apparatus.Summing Up: Essential. Advanced undergraduates and above.

The cliche that as a region the Balkans has historically remained marginal to the history of larger "Europe" remains a serious impediment to understanding the relevance to the larger continent of events taking place in this complex region. In a bold attempt to address the neglect such a bias has produced in the historiography of the Balkans, this collection draws on the expertise of some of the brightest stars in the field to make the compelling argument that developments in Western and Central Europe had long been felt in the Balkans. Since at least the second half of the 19th century, for instance, the process of state building in the Balkans proved not only innovative but transformative as the region drew in Europe during the wars of 1912 and 1913. Though it neglects the contributions of the Ottomans in this history, this collection sheds light on the evolution of identity politics from one based on religion and ethnicity to one based on modern ideas of belonging to a state, a change that resulted in new loyalties that ultimately enveloped the rest of the continent by the 1930s. This book promises to help readers rethink the origins of European consciousness in the 20th century.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.