Two insanely expensive additions to the Lard Island Library. 1944 was the year of the massive collapse on the Eastern Front which is rather overshadowed in the west by D-Day. Attempting to expand our Eastern Front section.
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I’ve not read them yet but it seems unlikely. The books are about specific military actions over a very brief period in 1944. Both are the we’d study if a particular battle. I would think a book on genocide would have to cover a wider time period and have a very different focus. 1/2
However, I think you are actually alluding to a different issue, namely, should we be buying books about “the bad guys”. I must admit that I paused before making the purchase. I did buy some books written from the Soviet perspective at the same time. They’ve just not arrived yet. 2/?
Although I am also reading books which focus on military the wider picture is imo far more interesting. As you know Wiking was involved in the darkest chapters of the war just to mention Warsaw and the Death Marches. I am fine with wargaming with the evil guys it adds motivation to defeat them.
I’ve just spent four years researching the war with Japan. People say that civilisation is a thin veneer. I’m, sadly, not convinced it’s that deep most of the time. I do find the temporary collective loss of civilisation by the Germans remarkably concerning. I’ve always loved Germany…
We actually have very few books on SS units in the library. Where we do, it is specific unit histories covering units in Normandy, Arnhem or similar areas where our research has led us and their role has been central and, therefore, necessary reading. I don’t hold a torch of any kind for these units
But equally I don’t exclude them from my research because of my disapproval of their cause. In studying military campaigns it is often advisable to separate why people are fighting from how they fight or what they do when fighting. However, it is also sometimes necessary to apply a filter when…
I totally agree. I read a book last year that focussed on fighting in 1945 that had a distinctly unpleasant political perspective. Very “blut und boden”. Alarmingly, it was written by a senior officer in the Bundeswehr. The information gleaned was interesting but the reading process was unpleasant.
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Research needs to address it all before winnowing the chaff or something is likely to get missed or be biased in a different way.