Stargardt, Nicholas

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STARGARDT, Nicholas
(Edward N.R. Stargardt)

PERSONAL:

Born in Melbourne, Australia. Education: Cambridge University, B.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Magdalen College, Oxford OX1 4AU, England.

CAREER:

Historian, writer, and educator. Oxford University, Magdalen College, Oxford, England, lecturer and fellow.

MEMBER:

Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The German Idea of Militarism: Radical and Socialist Critics, 1866-1914, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1994.

Witnesses of War: Children's Lives under the Nazis, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to Past and Present, German History, XXieme Siecle, and Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History.

SIDELIGHTS:

Historian and author Nicholas Star-gardt's father was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany and that ancestry has influenced his chosen field of study. His first book, The German Idea of Militarism: Radical and Socialist Critics, 1866-1914, explores political challenges to German militarism within Germany before World War I. The author traces the development of the idea of militarism in Germany up until the commencement of World War I. Stargardt shows how the radical democrats and socialists began by opposing standing armies as instruments of absolutism at home and ended by campaigning against the threat of the arms race and world war. Critiquing the book in the English Historical Review, S.J. Salter felt that although it is "marred by factual errors," it also discusses "an interesting and important aspect" of German history. Yet Journal of Modern History contributor William Smaldone was more impressed by the volume. He stated that the book "does a good job tracing the evolution of the idea of militarism on the German left prior to 1914." Smaldone also concluded that "on the whole, Stargardt has produced a well-researched and solid book."

In Witnesses of War: Children's Lives under the Nazis, Stargardt portrays Nazi Germany from the perspective of children (both non-Jewish and Jewish). He bases his narrative primary sources, mainly diaries and letters. Children were often the victims in this most terrible of European wars, falling prey to bombing, mechanized warfare, starvation policies, mass flight and genocide. But Stargardt goes beyond the suffering of children to show how they adapted, and became active participants, going out to smuggle food, ply the black market, and care for sick parents and siblings. As children absorbed the brutal new realities of German occupation, he reveals, children's games changed, with Polish boys playing at being Gestapo interrogators, and Jewish children at being ghetto guards or the Schutzstaffel (SS). Within days of Germany's own surrender, German children were playing at being Russian soldiers. Ultimately, what makes the experiences of these children so remarkable is that, unlike the adults, they had no frame of reference to fall back on because they had no other known world order with which to compare their situations.

Because Witnesses of War explores Nazi Germany from an often overlooked vantage point, reviewers were quick to praise the work. Indeed, London Daily Telegraph critic Ian Thomson noted that the book is a "harrowing account" and "an essential document." Thomson later reiterated this sentiment in his review, calling the book a "vitally important work." Reviewers also lauded Stargardt's ability to impart the compelling stories of the Nazi-era children; a Publishers Weekly contributor called Witnesses of War "a sharp and taut account of misery," and a Kirkus Reviews critic called it "an absorbing study" that is "fascinating and often unsettling." Praising Stargardt's effective use of primary sources, Washington Post Book World contributor Ruth Kluger observed that "by using firsthand material, Stargardt conveys with startling directness the loss of perspective and the narrow-mindedness that suffering imposes."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2005, George Cohen, review of Witnesses of War: Children's Lives under the Nazis, p. 17.

English Historical Review, September, 1996, S.J. Salter, review of The German Idea of Militarism: Radical and Socialist Critics, 1866-1914, p. 1008.

History Today, September, 2005, William D. Rubinstein, review of Witnesses of War, p. 54.

Guardian (London, England), April 30, 2005, David Cesarani, review of Witnesses of War.

Journal of Modern History, September, 1997, William Smaldone, review of The German Idea of Militarism, p. 627.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2005, review of Witnesses of War, p. 1178.

Publishers Weekly, November 7, 2005, review of Witnesses of War, p. 67.

Sunday Times (London, England), May 1, 2005, John Carey, review of Witnesses of War.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), May 29, 2005, Ian Thomson, review of Witnesses of War.

Washington Post Book World, January 29, 2006, Ruth Kluger, review of Witnesses of War.