Foxburg

I read Hitler’s Willing Executioners whilst doing the IWM fellowship, and although I did not fully agree with the conclusions I found it to be a valuable and interesting piece. I purchased Worse than War as soon as it was published on the back of Hitler’s Willing Executioners. I have been impressed with Goldhagen’s willingness to confront questions others seem reluctant to address, thus I was expecting some issues in this current book.

Firstly it has taken me a while to read this, as I found it slow going, not because it was difficult to read, but that I sometimes had to slow myself down to understand the tread fully, some parts (and I will go into this further) were rather academic, and I feel a general reader would find these parts difficult. Hidden away after the notes and credits is a section entitled ‘Thoughts and Thanks’ in which the author mentions

“I write books with different people in mind: the general public, scholars, religious and other institutional leaders, myself, and, with this book, politicians and policy-makers. The weight that each of these different kinds of people have in my mind vary from book to book, and within each book from one section to the next.

This, I feel, explains the variety in pace and depth of the chapters in this book. For me this left me feeling that the book was unbalanced, the two chapters that concluded the book were too preachy for me, and thus, the book left me a little unsatisfied, as the central parts of the book were excellent, the ending did not match this quality.

There is much that is excellent about Worse than War, for example the first two chapters that defined the issues to be addressed, I found to be invaluable, I quickly grasped the concept of Eliminationism, and could follow Goldhagen’s  explanations easily. I feel that the explanations clarify issues without simplifying them, without losing the complexity of human interaction, without giving simple answers to complex questions. I can understand the authors thesis, why he uses the term Eliminationism, and feel confident that I will be able to use it when studying and teaching Genocide.

I was not fully convinced by parts of Part I: Explaining Eliminationist Assaults, but this did not prevent me following the arguments put forward, and certainly did not prevent me gaining fresh insights into what I can confidently call Eliminationist Assaults. This part gave me ideas and resources that I aim to pursue.

Part II Modern Eliminationist Politics, was, for me, a less valuable section of the book, but this is not saying I did not find it valuable, it is a comparison, and it would be difficult to maintain the level achieved in Part I. The section on Perpetrators in Part I I found fascinating, it provided me with fresh insights, and enable me to look at familiar issues from a different perspective.

As mentioned above Part III Changing the future, I found the least rewarding, but possibly because it was not really aimed at me, and this is the one weakness in this book, it is really three books combined.

I can honestly say this is one of the very few books that have moved me intellectually, making me think differently, more clearly. I must admit a small amount of pride, as I feel that without the IWM fellowship training I would not have been able to cope with a lot of this book, I have a small amount of pride in that I can look at the issues raided by the author objectively, I may not agree with everything he says, but I can follow the logic of his argument,and use his thinking to inform my own ideas.

I think the most interesting aspect of Worse than War, is that Goldhagen’s thought process is so clear, the reader can see him thinking a problem through, and he admits that he does not have a solution to all the problems. I found this refreshing and encouraging, that an academic can put forward his thinking, knowing that it is not firmly established, he takes risks, and for this alone he should be commended.

I read this book to enhance my understanding of the Holocaust, I have found that, not only has this been achieved but that I am developing my understanding of 20th Century Genocides, I have a deeper understanding of the factors that instigate them, sadly that means, for me, that I will be more willing to study this topic, I say sadly as it is not the most joyous of topics.

I am pleased to say that I can highly recommend Worse than War (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Worse-Than-War-Genocide-Eliminationism/dp/1586487698)

Please note, I feel that this is not for the general reader, it demands a level of commitment and, dare I say it, understanding, of 20th Century Political History, that is not available to the wider general public, but once read, will be returned to again and again.

Not got into Life on Mars but this is so good I might just start.

As a Politics graduate I still feel that the ‘Leadership debates’ have no place in the UK democratic system, after all the electorate should be choosing who they wish to represent them in Parliament, rather than some glorified beauty contest.

Despite this I think Damian Clark has done a really good job at presenting the information (http://www.clvhumanities.blogspot.com/)

I particularly like this Wordle showing the words spoken by each leader during the first debate.

http://thenandnow.edublogs.org/

Finally finished the Then & Now Website, this is the work I did a few years back, looking at Local History and ICT

The video I did a few years back, based on the Bob Dylan song Masters of War has been removed by Youtube this week. I have placed it on Vimeo at the moment until I can get it posted directly.

Masters of War from Tony Fox on Vimeo.

This uses the Bob Dylan song out of its true historical context to create another historical context.

Thanks to Russel Tarr’s recommendation I can use this 10 minute clip in the classroom.

Many teach the SHP Medicine through time, and I for one always enjoy doing so, one good topic is John Snow and the Broad Street pump, as it is simple to understand and can be handled in a number of ways.

This short explanation (8 minutes if we take out the start) can be used as a hook, or as a stimulus in the classroom, and dare I say as Steven Johnson is speaking to an American audience it is simple enough for KS3 students to understand?

Vilnius Ghetto on Google earth

This link is to an overlay over the centre of Vilnius in Lithuania. Since my visit in 2008 I have had an interest in the Vilnius Ghetto. Recently I have been playing with the overlay function on Google earth, thus I have combined the two.

I stole the map from www.deathcamps.org which is a wonderfully rich site. I then placed the map as an overlay. The time consuming bit is getting the maps closely aligned, this takes patience, but thankfully little skill, simply drag, skew and twist the image until it looks right, using the zoom helps. We now have a ‘then & now‘ ability to see where the Vilnius ghetto was in relation to the current city, and see change and continuity between the 1940s and today. I kept the key to show the key buildings

Below is a still image for those who don’t have Google earth

The map overlayed over Vilnius

Chris Edwards and I have been developing ideas based upon Bob Dylan’ early work, showing how it can be used to develop Historical Understanding.

To develop this further I have set up the Website : Down the Foggy ruins of Time where resources and ideas can be explored and developed.

We all know the world is changing; and changing rapidly, so what can we do about it?