Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction (Making History)

I am a big fan of Martin Gilbert's books and this one is no different. While each of his books vary in subject, they are all of equal quality, and this is no exception. It is the ultimate definition of information and history: top quality history. For all those interested in either Kristallnacht or the prelude the Holocaust, and even more so for those interested in both, this source is invaluable.As I have alluded to, this book more or less touches upon two subjects: that of Kristallnacht, the night, its prelude and aftermath, and also a comprehensive and simply fascinating to the situation of Jewry during the two or three crucial years following it. On neither of these subjects does this book have room for improvement.Also, besides for a history of the happenings of Kristallnacht, Gilbert brings scores of eye-witness accounts which are of equal value to the reader and of even more so to the researcher. Furthermore, it is required reading as part of the history of the Holocaust.

One of the things I really like about Martin Gilbert's works is how he brings history back down to the personal level. Instead of a deluge of numbers and benign facts and dates he uses personal, eyewitness accounts in his works. This reminds us that what we are reading is real and affected actual human beings. This forces the reader to truly face the reality of what happened and understand the true toll of these events. Of course in doing this kind of book the author must walk a fine line between giving the reader enough personal accounts to keep the reader focused on the human aspects of the historical event, and not too many so as to deluge the reader and bog the work down in to relentless tedium. In my opinion the author has done a fine job with this book in walking that line.Kristallnacht is very detailed work that doesn't limit itself to major cities, but instead goes into detail about what happened with each Jewish community during this event. The book goes into detail about the psychological affects on the Jewish community of this event, and how this event really brought home to the German and Austrian Jews the precariousness of their situation. As the reality of this night set in there was a renewed effort to escape the Nazi regime.What I really like about this book is how it talks about some of the heroes. Every nationality and government, down to regular citizens had some very brave individuals who followed their conscience to do a service to humanity rather than take the easy way and quietly acquiesce to their superior's demands. These, tragically, few individuals created a bright spot in a world of darkness, and this is the power of these books that focus on the micro instead of the macro.My only real criticism is that the author focused exclusively on the Jewish perspective of Kristallnacht, and because of this narrow focus I felt the book was somewhat incomplete. I would have been very pleased had the author added a chapter detailing the German perspective. Those who participated on the ground level, those who simply stood by and those who actually stood against the racist tide. This book is peppered here and there with some superficial accounts of German actions, but these are from the Jewish perspective and quite fleeting. Kristallnacht was more than a Jewish experience. It had to have a profound effect on the ordinary German and Austrian citizen as well. Up to that point they may have been able to assuage their moral qualms about the Nazi regime with the fact that it hadn't really shown its true colors. They probably attributed prior abuses to the newness of the government and assumed it would be tempered with time, but after this event they had to have some realization of just how bad things were going to get. I would have loved to have had some personal accounts from German perspective, but this was lacking and as such I found the work lacking as well.All in all I still found the work to be very readable and very informative. The author has a great talent for writing and a wealth of knowledge and information. I think anyone would get a lot out of this book which is why I still give it four stars even with my disappointment with the possible omission of the German and Austrian perspective. I certainly recommend this book to anyone interested in this event or time period.

A brief description of the notorious night that heralded the Holocaust.

The NAZI history should be read by every one who was born after 1945. We live but do we learn? That is the question. .

Having read many accounts of Kristallnacht, I wasn't going to read another, but having read Martin Gilbert I opted to do so. I was not disappointed, and I can say that this short book deserves to be read not only by students of the Shoah/Holocaust and of that terrible era, but also by students in high school and college as a component of their education as human beings. His writing style makes you feel as if you are reading about what happened in your town, in your neighborhood and to your neighbors - and makes you think about your own response to such an insidious evil. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Excellent book. Details oppression of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. A must read for anyone interested in this subject. Gilbert is an excellent writer, one of the best.

I read this book years ago and bought it again for my teen sons to read.This should be read by all high school students as part of their history classes.

This book takes an event that occurred 78 years ago and blows life and fire into it, and makes you apart of what's happened...perhaps if you close your eyes, you can here the sounds of glass breaking and lives torn to shards!

My husband is happy so I am happy. This book was for him.

Even though this book requires 5 stars, I didn't enjoy reading this book. In fact I was frequently so stunned by what I was reading that I could hardly turn the page. Some of this information is shattering.As well as examining events of the shocking night of the Kristallnacht pogrom itself (which was more severe and much more widepread than I had realised) this book also looks at the aftermath to Kristallnacht, when the Nazis embarked on a campaign of insult, violence, robbery, and state out-lawing of Jews. It was a return to medieval barbarism in the middle of the twentieth century.The book features numerous well-researched eye-witness statements. These include contemporary reports by diplomatic representives of foreign countries, and foreign press-reporters, who all express the greatest alarm at what is unfolding in front of their eyes as the Jewish population are deprived of the means to survive.It is disturbing to realise that on this evidence, close beneath the surface of civilisation there is danger, and cruelty waiting to be expressed. It appears that it only requires someone in authority, such as Hitler, to license the cruelty, for people to act on it. The Jews of Germany and Austria had done nothing to deserve the terrible suffering inflicted upon them.This significant book stands witness to what happened at Kristallnacht and later by means of startling first-hand evidence from Jews and others. Thank goodness Sir Martin Gilbert has collected and published this extremely important information.

Great book. Highly recommend this seller

Great Book about a tragic eventI discovered I personally know some of the people of interviewed by Sir Martin Gilbert.

Very good.