Explaining Auschwitz and Hiroshima: History Writing and the Second World War, 1945-1990 (The New International History)

Explaining Auschwitz and Hiroshima explores the way in which the main combatant societies of the Second World War have historicised that experience. Since 1945, debates in Germany about `the past that would not fade away' have been reasonably well-known. But in this book, Richard Bosworth maintains that Germany is not unique. He argues that in Britain, France, Italy, the USSR and Japan, as well as in Germany the traumatic history of the `long Second World War' has remained crucial to the culture and the politics of post-war societies. Each has felt a compelling need to interpret this past event and thus to `explain' `Auschwitz' and `Hiroshima'. Bosworth explores the bitter controversies that have developed around a particular interpretation of the war, such as disputes over A.J.P. Taylor's, Origins of the Second World War, Marcel Ophul's film, The Sorrow and the Pity, Renzo De Felice's biography of Mussolini in the 1970s or in post-Glasnost debates about the historiographies of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Richard Bosworth's book is a wide-ranging and thoughtful excursion into comparative history. Explaining Auschwitz and Hiroshima explores the way in which the main combatant societies of the Second World War have historicised that experience. Since 1945, debates in Germany about `the past that would not fade away'have been reasonably well-known. But in this book, Richard Bosworth maintains that Germany is not unique. He argues that in Britain, France, Italy, the USSR and Japan, as well as in Germany the traumatic history of the `long Second World War'has remained crucial to the culture and the politics of post-war societies. Each has felt a compelling need to interpret this past event and thus to `explain'`Auschwitz'and `Hiroshima'. Bosworth explores the bitter controversies that have developed around a particular interpretation of the war, such as disputes over A.J.P. Taylor's, Origins of the Second World War, Marcel Ophul's film, The Sorrow and the Pity, Renzo De Felice's biography of Mussolini in the 1970s or in post- Glasnost debates about the historiographies of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Richard Bosworth's book is a wide-ranging and thoughtful excursion into comparative history.

In Explaining Auschwitz and Hiroshima, Richard Bosworth explores the ways in which the main combatant societies of the Second World War have historicized their experience. He argues that in Britain, France, Italy, the USSR and Japan, as well as in Germany, the traumatic history of the ``long Second World War'' has remained crucial to the culture and politics of their post-war societies. Each has felt a compelling need to interpret these events and thus try to ``explain'' Auschwitz and Hiroshima. Bosworth examines when, why, and with what effect interpretations of the war have shifted and analyzes major controversies in history writing, such as A. J. P. Taylor's Origins of the Second World War, Renzo de Felice's biography of Mussolini or the post-Glasnost debates about the historiographies of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Combining a wide-ranging and flexible use of sources from history, to documentary and feature film with a unique overview of the historiograph

Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Series editor's preface......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 16 Introduction......Page 18 The Second World War and the historians......Page 25 The origins of the Third World War and the making of English social history......Page 48 Germany and the Third, Second and First World Wars......Page 70 The Historikerstreit and the relativisation of Auschwitz......Page 90 The sorrow and the pity of the fall of France and the rise of French historiography......Page 111 The eclipse of anti-Fascism in Italy......Page 135 Glasnost reaches Soviet historiography......Page 159 Hiroshima, mon amour: under eastern eyes......Page 184 Conclusion......Page 208 Notes......Page 216 Index......Page 268 Ch. 4 (pp. 73-93), "The 'Historikerstreit' and the Relativisation of Auschwitz, " deals with new trends in the contemporary historiography of the Second World War and the Holocaust, attempts to reassess the history of the war and the genocide and their meaning, and the debates between historians. Analyzes the views of the intentionalists and functionalists, the "Historikerstreit, " and the works of other historians. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism)