Description
German Catholicism at War explores the mentalities and experiences of German Catholics during the Second World War. Taking the German Home Front, and most specifically, the Rhineland and Westphalia, as its core focus German Catholicism at War examines Catholics' responses to developments in the war, their complex relationships with the Nazi regime, and their religious practices. Drawing on a wide range of source materials stretching from personal letters and diaries to pastoral letters and Gestapo reports, Thomas Brodie breaks new ground in our understanding of the Catholic community in Germany during the Second World War.
About the Author
Thomas Brodie took his BA, MSt, and Doctoral degrees at Hertford College, Oxford, between 2006 and 2014. He was senior scholar of the college during the academic years 2010-2012, and fully funded by the AHRC during his doctoral career. He held a Hanseatic Scholarship at the Centre for Contemporary Historical Research in Potsdam in 2013/14, and taught at the University of Leeds in 2014/15. From 2015-18 he held a three-year post as a Departmental Lecturer at Jesus College, Oxford, before joining the University of Birmingham in September 2018 as a Lecturer in 20th Century European History. His unpublished doctoral thesis, 'For Christ and Germany': German Catholicism and the Second World War, was officially commended by the judges of the Wiener Library's Fraenkel Prize in 2014.
Reviews
Thomas Brodie's engaging and eminently readable study of German Catholicism during the Second World War represents both a tour de force of highly original and meticulous scholarship and an exceptional work of Alltagsgeschichte * Helen Roche, Journal of the Historical Association *
This book is an incredibly useful and necessary guide on the historical relationship between German Catholic life and wartime consciousness. * Jacob Saliba, European History Quarterly *
Thomas Brodie's revised dissertation provides much food for thought. The author has read much of the scholarly literature and the archival sources relevant to his focus. * Martin Menke, H-Net Reviews *
German Catholicism at War, 1939-1945, started its life as a Ph. D. dissertation at Oxford University and, unsurprisingly, it bears all the marks of its birth: a superb grasp of the literature, a very dense narrative [...], the use of a wide range of sources [...], and a well-argued thesis. An informative and valuable contribution to the vast literature on the relationship between Catholicism and National Socialism and on World War II, this study-the work of a quite promising young scholar-will appeal to readers with an interest in the story of Catholicism, the relationship of Church and State, or that of religion and war. * Jean-Guy Lalande, Catholic Historical Review *
superb ... a crucial addition to the vast literature on Christianity during the Third Reich, which has so far neglected the war years ... Brodie has built his arguments on painstaking research in the archives of the dioceses of Aachen, Cologne, and Munster in the Rhenish-Westphalian western part of the Reich. In addition, he makes sophisticated use of diaries and correspondence of ordinary Catholics, both published and archival. * Benjamin Ziemann, American Historical Review *
this is a fine piece of scholarship with a clear intellectual framework and solid archival underpinning. Anyone interested in the history of Catholicism, religion, popular opinion and war will profit from reading it. * Jill Stephenson, English Historical Review *
an exemplary work of social history ... it shows ... the sophistication of a master scholar with decades of experience in the field. * Mark Edward Ruff, Journal of Modern History *
Brodie's careful attention to popular attitudes should also motivate other scholars of religious anthropology to probe more deeply the noninstitutional religious sensibilities of Catholics who rejected the traditional viewpoints of their leaders during the war. In sum, German Catholicism at War represents a necessary and well-researched contribution to scholarship about World War II and should serve as inspiration for future work as well. * Michael E. O'Sullivan, German Studies Review *
Brodie's study provides invaluable insights into Catholic religious beliefs and attitudes, revealing the complexity and diversity of opinions throughout the war years ... an informative and valuable work which helps capture some of the diversity of opinions that were embodied in the Catholic 'milieu' as it struggled to maintain its place within the Volksgemeinschaft. * Beth A. Griech-Polelle, German History *
Brodie's work constitutes a major intervention into the history of twentieth-century German Catholic history, and one that casts new light on the understudied relationship between religion and war. Brodie shows us that religion is not always an antidote to war, or even a refuge from it. It is, instead, made and remade, as a sociological and institutional reality, by the horrors of war -- and then again by the horrors of peace. * James Chappel, H-Diplo *
Based on a rich variety of sources, Brodie synthesizes his findings in six dense chapters alongside a pre-war prologue and brief conclusion. * Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Catholic Historical Review *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198827023
Author Thomas Brodie
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 482g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 150mm * 10mm
About the Author
Thomas Brodie took his BA, MSt, and Doctoral degrees at Hertford College, Oxford, between 2006 and 2014. He was senior scholar of the college during the academic years 2010-2012, and fully funded by the AHRC during his doctoral career. He held a Hanseatic Scholarship at the Centre for Contemporary Historical Research in Potsdam in 2013/14, and taught at the University of Leeds in 2014/15. From 2015-18 he held a three-year post as a Departmental Lecturer at Jesus College, Oxford, before joining the University of Birmingham in September 2018 as a Lecturer in 20th Century European History. His unpublished doctoral thesis, 'For Christ and Germany': German Catholicism and the Second World War, was officially commended by the judges of the Wiener Library's Fraenkel Prize in 2014.
Reviews
Thomas Brodie's engaging and eminently readable study of German Catholicism during the Second World War represents both a tour de force of highly original and meticulous scholarship and an exceptional work of Alltagsgeschichte * Helen Roche, Journal of the Historical Association *
This book is an incredibly useful and necessary guide on the historical relationship between German Catholic life and wartime consciousness. * Jacob Saliba, European History Quarterly *
Thomas Brodie's revised dissertation provides much food for thought. The author has read much of the scholarly literature and the archival sources relevant to his focus. * Martin Menke, H-Net Reviews *
German Catholicism at War, 1939-1945, started its life as a Ph. D. dissertation at Oxford University and, unsurprisingly, it bears all the marks of its birth: a superb grasp of the literature, a very dense narrative [...], the use of a wide range of sources [...], and a well-argued thesis. An informative and valuable contribution to the vast literature on the relationship between Catholicism and National Socialism and on World War II, this study-the work of a quite promising young scholar-will appeal to readers with an interest in the story of Catholicism, the relationship of Church and State, or that of religion and war. * Jean-Guy Lalande, Catholic Historical Review *
superb ... a crucial addition to the vast literature on Christianity during the Third Reich, which has so far neglected the war years ... Brodie has built his arguments on painstaking research in the archives of the dioceses of Aachen, Cologne, and Munster in the Rhenish-Westphalian western part of the Reich. In addition, he makes sophisticated use of diaries and correspondence of ordinary Catholics, both published and archival. * Benjamin Ziemann, American Historical Review *
this is a fine piece of scholarship with a clear intellectual framework and solid archival underpinning. Anyone interested in the history of Catholicism, religion, popular opinion and war will profit from reading it. * Jill Stephenson, English Historical Review *
an exemplary work of social history ... it shows ... the sophistication of a master scholar with decades of experience in the field. * Mark Edward Ruff, Journal of Modern History *
Brodie's careful attention to popular attitudes should also motivate other scholars of religious anthropology to probe more deeply the noninstitutional religious sensibilities of Catholics who rejected the traditional viewpoints of their leaders during the war. In sum, German Catholicism at War represents a necessary and well-researched contribution to scholarship about World War II and should serve as inspiration for future work as well. * Michael E. O'Sullivan, German Studies Review *
Brodie's study provides invaluable insights into Catholic religious beliefs and attitudes, revealing the complexity and diversity of opinions throughout the war years ... an informative and valuable work which helps capture some of the diversity of opinions that were embodied in the Catholic 'milieu' as it struggled to maintain its place within the Volksgemeinschaft. * Beth A. Griech-Polelle, German History *
Brodie's work constitutes a major intervention into the history of twentieth-century German Catholic history, and one that casts new light on the understudied relationship between religion and war. Brodie shows us that religion is not always an antidote to war, or even a refuge from it. It is, instead, made and remade, as a sociological and institutional reality, by the horrors of war -- and then again by the horrors of peace. * James Chappel, H-Diplo *
Based on a rich variety of sources, Brodie synthesizes his findings in six dense chapters alongside a pre-war prologue and brief conclusion. * Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Catholic Historical Review *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198827023
Author Thomas Brodie
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 482g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 150mm * 10mm
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