DOC Nazi Hunger Politics: A History of Food in the Third Reich (Rowman Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy) by Gesine Gerhard in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. ExcellentBy LeobiscuitExtremely readable; well-written; and engaging. Thoroughly enjoyed it!1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. One More Try; Then ...By Arnold E. BjornA little while ago; I posted a somewhat lengthy review of this book. I see now that it was apparently removed by : the first time this has happened to me; and presumably because I phrased my criticism too strongly. I will now attempt; therefore; to summarize my views more succinctly; and in words that hopefully should not offend anyone.Put briefly; Professor Gerhard's rather short book disappoints because of her shallow analysis. Her research as such is not very bad; albeit mostly into secondary sources (though including; to her credit; some German-language works). The problem is that she lacks the necessary background knowledge to place what she gleans of her own subject; Nazi food and agricultural policies; into the broader context of Germany's political and economic situation; for this reason; she treats its rulers' every decision in a vacuum; as though the German government were free of practical and pragmatic limitations; never mind considerations. Thus; every policy document becomes purely a product of ideology; and statements of intentions are often not followed up with any examination of their implementation and its results.At the same time; the author unduly speculates on what-might-have-beens without discussing what alternative lines of action the German economic base was actually physically equipped to support; often lending her narrative an insubstantial; in places idiosyncratic air. The part where this most clearly shows is her sections on policy in the occupied Soviet Union in the war years (in particular; around pages 90ff.). My original review included a more extended discussion of this as a case study; along with supporting quotes; here; I will be content to note my conclusion; namely that she does not appear to understand the material realities of logistics in the 1940s.The prior research Gerhard makes use of; on the other hand; is; as noted; mostly adequate; although there is a certain over-reliance on the greatly overrated works of Christian Streit. There are still; however; a few odd lacunae in her reading list. Perhaps the most surprising such shortcoming is that she appears to completely ignore the very learned two-part study that Dr. Karl Brandt and his collaborators at the Food Research Institute at Stanford University produced on her exact topic in the 1950s: "The Management of Agriculture and Food in Germany" and The Management of Agriculture and Food in the German-Occupied and Other Areas of Fortress Europe. Neither volume is even listed in her bibliography; though both are rather more substantial works than her own contribution.These volumes will also supply my concluding recommendation; here: the reader will learn more from these; old but carefully reasoned and well grounded in the primary-source documents; than he will from this latter-day effort; which is inferior in just about every way.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. this book is a great read for anybody interested in World War IIBy MRThis is a well-written account of one of the darkest and not well known chapters of the Nazis crimes committed during World War II. Based on original research that includes the diaries of the wife of Herbert Backe; the Nazi Minister of Food and Agriculture; this book is a great read for anybody interested in World War II; the Holocaust; and the history of food politics. I highly recommend it!