Burying the Enemy
The Story of Those who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Yale University Press
Publishing:25th Mar '25
£25.00
This title is due to be published on 25th March, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A fascinating and moving history of the British and German war dead buried on enemy soil in the two world wars
Why do societies only remember their own national war dead? Today, the enemy dead might be largely hidden from view, but this wasn’t always the case. During both world wars, Germans and Britons died in their thousands in enemy territory. From Berlin to Bath, London to Leipzig, civilian communities buried the enemy in the closest parish churchyard. Perhaps surprisingly, local people embraced these graves, often caring for them with considerable tenderness.
Tim Grady explores the history of this curious aspect of postwar community. He reveals how, as the two states moved bodies to new military cemeteries, local people protested at the disturbance of the dead, and ties between the bereaved families and those who cared for the graves were severed forever. With the enemy out of sight and mind, the British and Germans concentrated solely on commemorating their own war dead, and their own sacrifices. Today’s insular public memory of the world wars was only made possible by clearing away signs of the enemy—allowing people to tell themselves much simpler narratives of the recent past as a result.
“A beautifully written reminder of the common need to grieve, bury and commemorate the dead of war. Grady's carefully researched book tells the story of how German and British societies cared for the 'enemy dead' alongside their own after the destruction of the two World Wars.”—Lucy Noakes, author of War and the British
“An important book on a compelling subject, which is vividly brought to life by Grady’s winning prose and wide-ranging research...Turns conventional wisdom about the Anglo-German antagonism on its head.”—Matthew Stibbe, author of Debates on the German Revolution Of 1918-19
“Illuminates an otherwise hidden history...Grady’s sensitive, moving study provides new insights into how ordinary people on the home fronts, long after the shooting has stopped, recover from the devastating effects of modern war.”—Jason Crouthamel, author of The Great War and German Memory
“This is a remarkable book. It rests on impeccable scholarship but it reads effortlessly. More to the point, it is both intellectually shrewd and profoundly moving. What shines through is the compassion of ordinary people on both sides. Their everyday gestures of care provided a foundation for a movement of grassroots reconciliation that was then sadly erased by the deadweight hand of officialdom.”—Neil Gregor, author of Haunted City: Nuremberg and the Nazi Past
ISBN: 9780300273977
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
384 pages