Germany 1944: A British Soldier's Pocketbook

by Edward Hampshire (Introduction)

Overview

This Soldier's pocketbook from 1944, and the tale of its creation, reveal a fascinating moment of history: a snapshot of prejudices, expectations, assumptions and fears. It was created in conditions of secrecy to prepare British and Allied soldiers for entering and occupying Germany - but at a time when victory was not guaranteed. What would they face? How would they be treated? How would they manage a population they were used to thinking of only as 'enemy combatants'? Part Practical guide, part everyman's history of the German people, part propoganda tool, it is an instantly absorbing window on an uncertain time. It shows how the Allied civilian and militery command wanted to condition the ordinary serviceman's thoughts about what he would encounter. Today's reader will find here opiniated comment and crude stereotype, but also subtle insights and humour - intentional and unintentional. The pocketbook says as much about the mindset of its British compilers as it does about the German people or about the Nazi regime that the soldiers would eventually topple.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781903365915
Publisher:	A&C Black Publishers, Ltd.
Publication date:	05/31/2006
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.25(d)

About the Author

Edward Hampshire is a historian at the Naval Historical Branch of the Ministry of Defence. He has lectured at the Joint Services Command and Staff College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and worked for ten years at the United Kingdom National Archives. He has written on the Cold War at sea, British defence policy and intelligence history, and is currently researching British naval policy in the 1980s. His publications include From East of Suez to Eastern Atlantic, British Naval Policy 1964-70 and (co-authored) British Intelligence: Secrets, Spies and Sources.

Table of Contents

An illuminating introduction, drawing on the National Archives' unique original records, reveals the intelligence community's misgivings and disagreements about the content of the pocketbook as it went through its various stages.