Mirrors of Destruction: War, Genocide and Modern Identity by Omer Bartov

Mirrors of Destruction: War, Genocide and Modern Identity by Omer Bartov describes the Holocaust is a central event in the 20th century. He tends to undermine his argument by claiming that the trauma suffered in World War I was responsible for it. Wouldn't this make World War I the central event in the century?

That being said the book has some excellent ideas on not only why the Holocaust occurred but its perception in Germany, France and Israel. Most interesting or perhaps disturbing is that in the 1950s and 1960s there was a large Israeli pornography industry which used the concentration camps as locations for the books.

There's a large dose of fiction as history but most of the analysis is quite good. Not an easy read quite a bit of technical jargon.

Recommended for those who want to really get involved in the topic.

For more Holocaust book reviews, take a look at My Holocaust bookshelf.