Toward the Final Solution: A History of European Racism

by George L. Mosse, Christopher R. Browning (Introduction)

Overview

Originally published in 1978, Toward the Final Solution was one of the first in-depth studies of the evolution of racism in Europe, from the Age of Enlightenment through the Holocaust and Hitler's Final Solution. George L. Mosse details how antisemitism and dangerous prejudices have long existed in the European cultural tradition, revealing an appalling and complex history. With the global renewal of extreme, right-wing nationalism, this instrumental work remains as important as ever for understanding how bigotry impacts political, cultural, and intellectual life. This edition of Mosse's classic book includes a new critical introduction by Christopher R. Browning, author of Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299330347
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Series:	The Collected Works of George L. Mosse
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

George L. Mosse (1918-99) was a legendary scholar, teacher, and mentor. A refugee from Nazi Germany, he joined the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1955, where he was both influential and popular. Mosse was an early leader in the study of modern European cultural and intellectual history, the study of fascism, and the history of sexuality and masculinity. Over his career he authored more than two dozen books.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgments ix

A Critical Introduction Christopher R. Browning xi

Prologue: Affirmations and New Dimensions xxiii

Introduction: The Meaning of Race xxxv

Part I The Beginning

1 Eighteenth-Century Foundations 3

2 From Science to Art: The Birth of Stereotypes 17

3 Nation, Language, and History 36

4 From Gobineau to de Lapouge 49

Part II The Penetration

5 Britain Lends a Hand 61

6 The Science of Race 71

7 The Mystery of Race 85

8 The Jews: Myth and Counter-Myth 103

9 Infected Christianity 118

10 The Rise of National Socialism 136

Part III The Execution

11 War and Revolution 157

12 From Theory to Practice 174

13 Racism and Mass Murder 194

14 A Conclusion That Does Not Conclude 208

Notes 215

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

"A talented historian entered a neglected field of study and opened the doors of serious scholarship to a topic that will no longer be sidestepped by others too timid to lead. A pioneering volume of great significance."--Annals of the American Academy

"Mosse claims once again his place in modern historiography as the foremost explicator and demythologizer of ideas which have inflamed and energized men's minds and worked irreversible evil in human history. . . . Mosse has produced a strikingly original work whose conceptual brilliance and analytic keenness will surely make it the indispensable work on European racism."--Commentary

"Mosse has done more than any other historian to trace racism to its intellectual and social roots. . . . A brilliant study."--Publishers Weekly

"This is a grim book, and I wish it weren't such a necessary one. . . . Mosse tells the story well."--Boston Globe

From the Publisher