Richard Overy
Blood & Soil
Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning
By Timothy Snyder
The Bodley Head 462pp £25
The title of Timothy Snyder’s new book is more cryptic than his unambiguously named Bloodlands, in which he explored the phenomenal violence imposed on the territories between Russia proper and the shifting eastern frontier of Germany in the late 1930s. However, the term ‘black earth’ describes a large part of this territory – namely, the fertile regions of Ukraine, where much of the Soviet food surplus was produced. In practice, therefore, this book returns to the ‘bloodlands’ again, reiterating much of what is now familiar from Snyder’s previous work.
The difference lies in the approach. This time Snyder argues that Hitler’s world-view, expressed in Mein Kampf and the so-called ‘Second Book’ (an unpublished manuscript composed around 1928) was moulded by the idea of ecological disaster, specifically the notion that Germany could not feed itself adequately from its shrunken post-Versailles territory. His Darwinian stance that humans obey the crude laws of natural competition in which the stronger always prevail led him to the conclusion that more soil could only be gained through violent occupation of ‘black earth’, the rich lands to the east. This idea, Snyder claims, was linked with
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm