Saul Friedländer’s new book The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 is what The New York Times is saying to be, “the skilled interweaving of individual testimony with the broader depiction of events.” And it is though this that critics have noted the text to not only be a historical document but also one of literature as well.
Likewise, The New York Times’ Richard J. Evans notes Friedländer’s mentioning of the book intending to, “establish a historical account of the Holocaust in which the policies of the perpetrators, the attitudes of surrounding society and the world of the victims could be addressed within an integrated framework.”
The book takes on the notion that the Germans, under Hitler, could only have survived by destroying the Jews. Publisher’s Weekly has said, “This is a masterful synthesis that draws on a lifetime of learning and research.”
Yet some critics have noted the author fails to explore the deeper-rooted issues and place it into a larger context. The Washington Post has called the book “a useful, updated panorama of the events of the Holocaust,” but also advises readers that if they want more than just an introduction to this event, to seek elsewhere.
The book is a long one, finishing at 896 pages.
USA
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