Brager, Bruce L. 1949-

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BRAGER, Bruce L. 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born 1949, in Chester, PA. Education: George Washington University, B.A. Hobbies and other interests: Photography.

ADDRESSES:

Home—1020 North Quincy St., Apt. 807, Arlington, VA 22201. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, editor, and researcher.

WRITINGS:

The Trial of Adolf Eichmann: The Holocaust on Trial ("Famous Trials" series), Lucent Books (San Diego, CA), 1999.

The Texas 36th Division: A History, Eakin Press (Austin, TX), 2002.

Petersburg, Chelsea House (Philadelphia, PA), 2003.

The Monitor vs. the Merrimack ("Great Battles" series), Chelsea House (Philadelphia, PA), 2003.

The Iron Curtain: The Cold War in Europe ("Arbitrary Borders" series), Chelsea House (Philadelphia, PA), 2003.

Author of more than eighty published magazine and journal articles and letters to the editor.

Also author of numerous scripts, multimedia training manuals, and technical manuals. Editor of a CD-ROM on the American Civil War; creator and editor of a newspaper on Southern Africa.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Stonewall Jackson: You Can Be Whatever You Resolve to Be; Context, Causes, and Connections: Decision Making, Unintended Consequences, and the Real American Way of War.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bruce L. Brager's works focus on issues in military history, government, and defense. His books cover a variety of time periods and historical events, including the U.S. Civil War, World War I and II, and the Holocaust. He also has worked on modern political and technical topics, such as the energy industry, the U.S. defense industry, foreign and domestic government, and political science.

In The Texas 36th Division: A History, Brager explores the formation and history of this noted military unit. The 36th Division was formed in 1917, shortly after the United States became involved in World War I. Brager's detailed history covers the division's early years, World War I service, status as a Texas National Guard unit between the wars, and the division's combat service in Italy and France during World War II.

Brager takes up volatile post-World War II issues in The Trial of Adolf Eichmann: The Holocaust on Trial. Eichmann was a senior Nazi official responsible for, among other things, the development of the railway system that carried Jews and others to the concentration camps. Eichmann had eluded capture after World War II, but in the late 1950s, reports began to surface that he had been seen in Argentina. Brager's book provides an in-depth account of the search, Eichmann's eventual capture, his return to Israel in 1961, and his subsequent trial for war crimes. Prior to Eichmann's capture, many Holocaust survivors had been unwilling to talk about their horrifying experiences. The capture and trial of a pivotal figure in the Nazi Reich finally allowed some survivors in Israel and throughout the world to open up and discuss their traumas. As School Library Journal critic David N. Pauli observed, the trial itself served to "showcase the horror of the Nazi regime and to document the Holocaust." Writing in Booklist, Randy Meyer called Brager's book "a fine supplement to the Holocaust curriculum."

In addition to his books and articles, Brager has researched and written scripts and served as editor for an interactive CD-ROM on the American Civil War. He wrote and edited multimedia training materials on issues in the hydrocarbon industry, including production, industrial design, management, and safety; researched low-intensity warfare for U.S. Army contingency planning studies; and prepared technical manuals and guides on energy production, urban development, and recycling. He also created, edited, and published a newspaper on southern Africa. Brager told CA his work habits are characterized by "persistence, sometimes past reason."

Brager is also an avid photographer. "I sometimes think I prefer photography to writing," Brager told CA. "But I realize this is because with photography I just get the fun part, no revisions, no retyping, etc., etc."