Download or read book Looting in Wartime Britain written by Todd Gray and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new fascinating book will have broad national appeal to anyone with an interest in wartime, social or local history. Scholarly but readable.Looting took Britain by surprise in the summer of 1940 and it continued throughout the war. The shock was replaced by anger and outrage as looting accompanied the German bombing of cities across the country. It intensified as many looters were revealed to be in positions of trust. Todd Gray uncovers diverse reasons for why it took place and with careful research provides evidence to support this uncomfortable aspect of the past. It is part of our history that hurts but to ignore it is to diminish a generation's struggle against fascism.
Download or read book Looting and Rape in Wartime written by Tuba Inal and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-03-15 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women were historically treated in wartime as property. Yet in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, prohibitions against pillaging property did not extend to the female body. There is a gap of nearly a hundred years between those early prohibitions of pillage and the prohibition of rape finally enacted in the Rome Statute of 1998. In Looting and Rape in Wartime, Tuba Inal addresses the development of these two separate "prohibition regimes," exploring why states make and agree to laws that determine the way war is conducted, and what role gender plays in this process. Inal argues that three conditions are necessary for the emergence of a global prohibition regime: first, a state must believe that it is necessary to comply with the prohibition and that to do otherwise would be costly; second, the idea that a particular practice is undesirable must become the norm; finally, a prohibition regime emerges with state and nonstate actors supporting it all along the way. These conditions are met by the prohibition against pillage, which developed from a confluence of material circumstances and an ideological context: the nineteenth century fostered ideas about the sanctity of private property, which made the act of looting seem more abhorrent. Meanwhile, the existence of conscripted and regulated armies meant that militaries could take measures to prevent it. In that period, however, rape was still considered a crime of passion or a symptom of behavioral disorder—in other words, a distortion of male sexuality and outside of state control—and it would take many decades to erode the grip of those ideas. Only toward the end of the twentieth century did transformations in gender ideology and the increased participation of women in politics bring about broad cultural shifts in the way we perceive sexual violence, women, and women's roles in policy and lawmaking. In examining the historical and ideological context of how these two regimes evolved, Looting and Rape in Wartime provides vital perspective on the forces that block or bring about change in international relations.
Download or read book Soldier Sailor Beggarman Thief written by Clive Emsley and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-01-24 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first serious investigation of criminal offending by members of the British armed forces both during and immediately after the two world wars of the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Book Thieves written by Anders Rydell and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A chilling reminder of Hitler’s twisted power." —BBC For readers of The Monuments Men and The Hare with Amber Eyes, the story of the Nazis' systematic pillaging of Europe's libraries, and the small team of heroic librarians now working to return the stolen books to their rightful owners. While the Nazi party was being condemned by much of the world for burning books, they were already hard at work perpetrating an even greater literary crime. Through extensive new research that included records saved by the Monuments Men themselves—Anders Rydell tells the untold story of Nazi book theft, as he himself joins the effort to return the stolen books. When the Nazi soldiers ransacked Europe’s libraries and bookshops, large and small, the books they stole were not burned. Instead, the Nazis began to compile a library of their own that they could use to wage an intellectual war on literature and history. In this secret war, the libraries of Jews, Communists, Liberal politicians, LGBT activists, Catholics, Freemasons, and many other opposition groups were appropriated for Nazi research, and used as an intellectual weapon against their owners. But when the war was over, most of the books were never returned. Instead many found their way into the public library system, where they remain to this day. Now, Rydell finds himself entrusted with one of these stolen volumes, setting out to return it to its rightful owner. It was passed to him by the small team of heroic librarians who have begun the monumental task of combing through Berlin’s public libraries to identify the looted books and reunite them with the families of their original owners. For those who lost relatives in the Holocaust, these books are often the only remaining possession of their relatives they have ever held. And as Rydell travels to return the volume he was given, he shows just how much a single book can mean to those who own it.
Download or read book Half the Battle written by Robert Mackay and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How well did civilian morale stand up to the pressures of total war and what factors were important to it? This book rejects contentions that civilian morale fell a long way short of the favourable picture presented at the time and in hundreds of books and films ever since. While acknowledging that some negative attitudes and behaviour existed-panic and defeatism, ration-cheating and black-marketeering-it argues that these involved a very small minority of the population. In fact, most people behaved well, and this should be the real measure of civilian morale, rather than the failing of the few who behaved badly. The book shows that although before the war, the official prognosis was pessimistic, measures to bolster morale were taken nevertheless, in particular with regard to protection against air raids. An examination of indicative factors concludes that moral fluctuated but was in the main good, right to the end of the war. In examining this phenomenon, due credit is accorded to government policies for the maintenance of morale, but special emphasis is given to the 'invisible chain' of patriotic feeling that held the nation together during its time of trial.
Download or read book In Defense of Looting written by Vicky Osterweil and published by Bold Type Books. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh argument for rioting and looting as our most powerful tools for dismantling white supremacy. Looting -- a crowd of people publicly, openly, and directly seizing goods -- is one of the more extreme actions that can take place in the midst of social unrest. Even self-identified radicals distance themselves from looters, fearing that violent tactics reflect badly on the broader movement. But Vicky Osterweil argues that stealing goods and destroying property are direct, pragmatic strategies of wealth redistribution and improving life for the working class -- not to mention the brazen messages these methods send to the police and the state. All our beliefs about the innate righteousness of property and ownership, Osterweil explains, are built on the history of anti-Black, anti-Indigenous oppression. From slave revolts to labor strikes to the modern-day movements for climate change, Black lives, and police abolition, Osterweil makes a convincing case for rioting and looting as weapons that bludgeon the status quo while uplifting the poor and marginalized. In Defense of Looting is a history of violent protest sparking social change, a compelling reframing of revolutionary activism, and a practical vision for a dramatically restructured society.
Download or read book The Gold Train written by Ronald W. Zweig and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2003-12-16 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1944, the great "Gold Train" headed west from Budapest, carrying gems, cash, furs, carpets, wedding rings, and even gold teeth -- all possessions stripped from Hungarian Jews before their murder. The Gold Train took on a legendary quality even as it steamed out of the station -- hundreds of millions of dollars in assets were on the move, accompanied by cunning, desperate, or gullible passengers trying to reach an illusory Nazi stronghold in the Alps. Drawing on a decade's worth of research into American, Israeli, and European archives, as well as private papers, eyewitness accounts, and other sources, Ronald Zweig tells the full story of the Gold Train. He introduces us to the large cast of players enmeshed in the drama, examines the myths that have developed around the journey, and places this incredible event within the annals of Holocaust and Cold War history, including its impact on restitution policies from the postwar years to today.
Download or read book Bombing States and Peoples in Western Europe 1940 1945 written by Claudia Baldoli and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-06-30 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to treat bombing during WWII as a European phenomenon and not just the 'Blitz' on Britain and Germany. With Western Europe now at the heart of a united continent, it is even more difficult to explain how only 70 years ago European states destroyed much of the urban landscape from the air. There were many blitzes between 1940 and 1945 with an estimated 700,000 people killed. The purpose of this book is to provide the basis for a comparison of the experience of western states under the impact of bombing. In particular, it considers the political, cultural and social responses to bombing rather than the military, strategic and social dimensions which have formed the core of the discussion hitherto. This book will correct the popular perception of the British Blitz as the key bombing experience by exposing the reality of life under the bombs for communities as far apart as Brest, Palermo, and Rostock. An international panel of historians consider the issues raised amidst the bombing of human rights and protection of civilians in this seminal event in C20th history.
Download or read book The Bombing of London 1940 41 The Blitz and its impact on the capital written by John Conen and published by Troubador Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2023-01-28 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise and balanced view of what is known as the Blitz on London. The title emphasizes bombing over blitz and recognises that the meaning of ‘the Blitz’ has now acquired other general connotations and is often equated to ‘Britain in wartime’ or the spirit of carrying on.
Download or read book The Lost Masters written by Peter Harclerode and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Nazis systematically looted Europe's treasurehouses to accumulate a magnificent hoard of important and priceless art collections. Much loot was recovered at war's end, but vast quantities disappeared again, pillaged by Stalin's Red Army and other Allies alike. To this day, many of those who suffered the loss of their collections remain impoverished and empty-handed." "The Lost Masters is an account of the tragic looting of Europe and the victims' attempts to reclaim the precious art heritage in the face of indifference from governments and the international art trade. It also includes the story of how courage possibly saved from destruction the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Download or read book Loot written by Adam Raz and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2024-09-24 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exiled in 1948, Palestinians were robbed of their private property when looting became weaponized During the 1948 War, Israeli fighters and residents alike plundered Palestinian homes, shops, businesses, and farms. This bitter truth was then suppressed or forgotten over the coming years. Tens of thousands took part in the pillage of Palestinian property, stealing the belongings of their former neighbours. The implications of this mass looting go far beyond the personality or moral fibre of those who took part. Plundering served a political agenda by helping to empty the country of its Palestinian residents. In this context, it was part of the prevailing policy during the war – one designed to crush the Palestinian economy, destroy villages, and to confiscate and sometimes destroy crops and harvests remaining in the depopulated zones. The participating Jewish public became a stakeholder, motivated to prevent Palestinian residents from returning to the villages and cities they had left. These ordinary people were mobilized in the push for the segregation of Jews and Arabs in the early years of statehood. With painstaking original research into primary sources, Adam Raz has brought to light a tragic moment in the history of a conflict that roils the region and the wider world. As the details of the Nakba are understood and documented, redress for Palestinian grievances comes closer to reality.
Download or read book The Bombing War written by Richard Overy and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 711 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate history of the Blitz and bombing in the Second World War, from Wolfson Prize-winning historian and author Richard Overy The use of massive fleets of bombers to kill and terrorize civilians was an aspect of the Second World War which continues to challenge the idea that Allies specifically fought a 'moral' war. For Britain, bombing became perhaps its principal contribution to the fighting as, night after night, exceptionally brave men flew over occupied Europe destroying its cities. The Bombing War radically overhauls our understanding of the War. It is the first book to examine seriously not just the most well-known parts of the campaign, but the significance of bombing on many other fronts - the German use of bombers on the Eastern Front for example (as well as much newly discovered material on the more familiar 'Blitz' on Britain), or the Allied campaigns against Italian cities. The result is the author's masterpiece - a rich, gripping, picture of the Second World War and the terrible military, technological and ethical issues that relentlessly drove all its participants into an abyss. Reviews: 'Magnificent ... must now be regarded as the standard work on the bombing war ... It is probably the most important book published on the history of he second world war this century' Richard J Evans, Guardian 'Monumental ... this is a major contribution to one of the most controversial aspects of the Second World War ... full of new detail and perspectives ... hugely impressive' James Holland, Literary Review 'This tremendous book does what the war it describes signally failed to do. With a well-thought-out strategy and precision, it delivers maximum force on its objectives ... The result is a masterpiece of the historian's art' The Times 'It is unlikely that a work of this scale, scope and merit will be surpassed' Times Higher Education 'What distinguishes Mr Overy's account of the bombing war from lesser efforts is the wealth of narrative detail and analytical rigour that he brings to bear' Economist 'Excellent ... Overy is never less than an erudite and clear-eyed guide whose research is impeccable and whose conclusions appear sensible and convincing even when they run against the established trends' Financial Times 'Hard to surpass. If you want to know how bombing worked, what it did and what it meant, this is the book to read' Times Literary Supplement About the author: Richard Overy is the author of a series of remarkable books on the Second World War and the wider disasters of the twentieth century. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia won both the Wolfson Prize for History and the Hessell-Tiltman Prize. He is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. Penguin publishes 1939: Countdown to War, The Morbid Age, Russia's War, Interrogations, The Battle of Britain and The Dictators. He lives in London.
Download or read book Allied Looting in World War II written by Kenneth D. Alford and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looting has long been recognized as one of the crimes committed by the Third Reich during World War II, a crime which stripped economic wealth and artistic treasures from the populations the Nazis terrorized. This historical text reveals the shocking extent of looting by Allied forces, exploring their thievery against the Germans and others. It follows the journey of the Hungarian Crown Treasure from a muddy oil drum in Austria to Fort Knox and back to Hungary, and discusses numerous lost treasures ranging from priceless art works to rare manuscripts, including the earliest known printing by the Gutenberg press.
Download or read book The Blackout in Britain and Germany 1939 1945 written by Marc Wiggam and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-06-06 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first major study of the blackout in the Second World War. Developing a comparative history of this system of civil defense in Britain and Germany, it begins by exploring how the blackout was planned for in both countries, and how the threat of aerial bombing framed its development. It then examines how well the blackout was adhered to, paying particular regard to the tension between its military value and the difficulties it caused civilians. The book then moves on to discuss how the blackout undermined the perception of security on the home front, especially for women. The final chapter examines the impact of the blackout on industry and transport. Arguing that the blackout formed an integral part in mobilising and legitimating British and German wartime discourses of community, fairness and morality, the book explores its profound impact on both countries.
Download or read book Britain s Underworld written by Billy Hill and published by Billy Hill Family. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Billy Hill writes about an extraordinary life of crime and punishment and his rise to the top of Britain's gangland. This book details Billy's sensational heists in the 1950s, for which no one was ever convicted. It's an entertaining read, giving the reader insight into what made Billy tick.
Download or read book Nazi Plunder written by Kenneth D. Alford and published by . This book was released on 2010-11-05 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War II was the most devastating conflict in human history, but the tragedy did not end on the battlefields. During the war, Germany--and, later, the Allies--plundered Europe's historic treasures. Between 1939 and 1945, German armed forces roamed from Dunkirk to Stalingrad, looting gold, silver, currency, paintings and other works of art, coins, religious artifacts, and millions of books and other documents. The value of these items, many of which were irreplaceable, is estimated in the billions of dollars. The artwork alone, looted under Hitler's direction, exceeded the combined collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Louvre. As the war wound to its conclusion in 1945, occupying forces continued the looting. The story of these celebrated works of art and other vanished treasures--and the mystery of where they went--is a remarkable tale of greed, fraud, deceit, and treachery. Kenneth Alford's Nazi Plunder is the latest word on this fascinating subject.
Download or read book The Destruction of Memory written by Robert Bevan and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2007-04-20 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crumbled shells of mosques in Iraq, the bombing of British cathedrals in World War II, the fall of the World Trade Center towers on September 11: when architectural totems such as these are destroyed by conflicts and the ravages of war, more than mere buildings are at stake. The Destruction of Memory reveals the extent to which a nation weds itself to its landscape; Robert Bevan argues that such destruction not only shatters a nation’s culture and morale but is also a deliberate act of eradicating a culture’s memory and, ultimately, its existence. Bevan combs through world history to highlight a range of wars and conflicts in which the destruction of architecture was pivotal. From Cortez’s razing of Aztec cities to the carpet bombings of Dresden and Tokyo in World War II to the war in the former Yugoslavia, The Destruction of Memory exposes the cultural war that rages behind architectural annihilation, revealing that in this subliminal assault lies the complex aim of exterminating a people. He provocatively argues for “the fatally intertwined experience of genocide and cultural genocide,” ultimately proposing the elevation of cultural genocide to a crime punishable by international law. In an age in which Frank Gehry, I. M. Pei, and Frank Lloyd Wright are revered and yet museums and temples of priceless value are destroyed in wars around the world, Bevan challenges the notion of “collateral damage,” arguing that it is in fact a deliberate act of war.
