Description
Book SynopsisThis important contribution to American and German social, military, and police histories, as well as historical criminology offers the first comprehensive exploration of criminality, policing, and both German and American fears around the realities of conquest and potential resistance amid the looming threat from communism in an emergent Cold War.
Trade Review“In clear and readable prose, Kehoe sets out to prove that perceptions of widespread social disorder and crime, especially at the beginning of the U.S. occupation of post–World War II Germany, had no grounding in reality. His outstanding exploitation of archival military government court records supports his juxtaposition of perceptions and rumors about the nature, frequency, and severity of crimes and their reality.”
“Kehoe convincingly describes the nature of postwar crime and disorder in the U.S. zone and adds nuance to our understanding of the crucial early period of American occupation. His argument in favor of the continuity in authoritarian policing between the Third Reich and the occupation was equally persuasive and original.”
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The Art of Occupation is an admirably clear yet sophisticated examination of the tumultuous German-American encounter after 1945. This book helps us to look beyond the mythology and better understand the lived experiences of occupiers and occupied.”
