Description
Book SynopsisIn Hitler's Shadow War, World War II scholar Donald M. McKale contends that the persecution and murder of the Jews, Slavs, and other groups was Hitler's primary effort during the war, not the conquest of Europe. According to McKale, Hitler and the Nazi leadership used the military campaigns of the war as a cover for a genocidal program that centered on the Final Solution. Hitler continued to commit extensive manpower and materials to this "shadow war" even when Germany was losing the battles of the war's closing years.
Trade ReviewMcKale has provided a fine survey. -- Norman J. W. Goda * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *
Hitler's Shadow War offers an incisive introductory survey of the Holocaust from the ideological inception of modern anti-Semitism through the rising tide of anti-Jewish persecution in the 1930s and culminating in the Final Solution. -- Abraham J. Edelheit * Jewish Book World *
McKale's book is a stunning achievement. . . . If readers at any level, or any library, were to purchase one book on the Holocaust, Hitler's Shadow War would be the recommended choice. -- M. Swartz * CHOICE *
For anyone seeking to come to terms with the depravity of the Holocaust, Hitler's Shadow War will be required reading. -- George Cohen * Booklist *
McKale presents a chillingly detailed and documented account of the Nazi insanity motivating the murderous attempt to exterminate the Jews of Europe. In view of the massive manpower, construction, transporation, energy, and other resources expended in this task, winning World War II, for the Nazis, was nothing more than a step toward success in the Holocaust. -- Martin Blumenson, Author of
Heroes Never Die: Warriors and Warfare in World War II
EDITOR'S CHOICE of the History Book Club, March 2003 The distinguishing features of Professor McKale's account are that it is based on the latest scholarship, places the systematic murder of the Jews into its World War II context, and does these things in a very well-written survey that will enlighten and inform the general public as well as specialists. -- Gerhard L. Weinberg, author of A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II
