Beyond Inclusion and Exclusion

Reviews / Votes

"All in all, the collection succeeds in its primary aim, to present fresh and innovative perspectives on (mainly) German Jewish wartime experiences and introduce newly discovered sources and analytical tools that highlight their diversity, in the editors' words, 'along gender, political, geographic, social, and subjective lines'. Perhaps even more importantly, as Derek Penslar puts it in his thoughtful afterword, it represents an important contribution towards a 'unified field of modern German and Jewish history'." * Journal of Austrian Studies



"By exploring diverse narratives in various forms, including literature and film, these twelve excellent essays add nuance and complexity to the mainstream narrative of the Jewish Great War experience. The primary goal of this collection is to go beyond the Judenzaehlung of 1916, the 'Jewish count' of war contribution, and to challenge the belief that anti-Semitism was the main ordeal dealt with among central European Jews." * First World War Studies



"The editors are to be commended for going beyond traditional historical concerns to include literature, film and even psychology...[This volume]is an important collection of essays which mostly deal with German Jews in the First World War. It ... does a masterful job at reminding us that German Jews were indeed part of the German nation, however defined, before the Nazis." * Social History



"This interdisciplinary collection of essays is a penetrating and deeply researched analysis of how the horrors of World War I shaped, in contradictory and surprising ways, Jewish life. It is an impressive achievement that will stand alongside some of the best scholarship in the field." * Eugene M. Avrutin, University of Illinois



"Beyond Inclusion and Exclusion is truly at the forefront of research in the field. It approaches its subject in an original, sophisticated and intellectually riveting manner. Coherent and convincing throughout, the book manages to surprise and engage, all the while expanding our understanding of what it meant to be a Jew during World War I." * Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, Central European University



"This extraordinary volume advances the historiography of German-speaking Jews in World War I to a higher level, pushing past the now dated debates about Jewish war service and assimilation that dominated the field for decades. A rich compilation of cutting-edge research, Beyond Inclusion and Exclusion demonstrates the diversity and heterogeneity of Jewish war experiences and postwar memories. Its authors interrogate Jewish difference through a range of compelling, interdisciplinary approaches and comparative frameworks, unearthing new material and reexamining familiar sources from fresh perspectives. An indispensable collection for readers interested in trauma and its linkages with war, gender, Jewishness, and media and for scholars of Jewish history, German studies, and war and society in the twentieth century." * Paul Lerner, University of Southern California