Stars for KL!

Important, fascinating reading for WWII history buffs: KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann has received two starred reviews!

“’The concentration camps embodied the spirit of Nazism like no other institution in the Third Reich,’ writes Wachsmann-at least 2.3 million people passed through them; at least 1.7 million died in them-and yet there exists no comprehensive analysis of the camp system, its principles and dynamics, or the forces and people that shaped it. Wachsmann, of Birkbeck College, University of London, fills that gap brilliantly. Wachsmann’s exhaustive study will be seen as the authoritative work on the subject.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A harrowing, thorough study of the Nazi camps that gathers a staggering amount of useful and necessary information on the collective catastrophe. In a tightly organized, systematic narrative, Wachsmann presents an ‘integrated’ treatment of the Konzentrationslager of the title that moves beyond any attempt to endow the camps with universal meaning. A comprehensive, encyclopedic work that should be included in the collections of libraries, schools and other institutions.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps will be available from Farrar, Straus & Giroux on April 14, 2015.