With expert scholars and great sensitivity, Out of Line, Out of Place illuminates and analyzes how the proliferation of internment camps emerged as a biopolitical tool of governance. Although the internment camp developed as a technology of containment, control, and punishment in the latter part of the nineteenth century mainly in colonial settings, it became universal and global during the Great War.

Mass internment has long been recognized as a defining experience of World War II, but it was a fundamental experience of World War I as well. More than eight million soldiers became prisoners of war, more than a million civilians became internees, and several millions more were displaced from their homes, with many placed in securitized refugee camps. For the first time, Out of Line, Out of Place brings these different camps together in conversation. Rotem Kowner and Iris Rachamimov emphasize that although there were differences among camps and varied logic of internment in individual countries, there were also striking similarities in how camps operated during the Great War.

About the Author

Rotem Kowner is Professor of History and Japanese Studies at the University of Haifa. He is the author of From White to Yellow and Tsushima.
Iris Rachamimov is Associate Professor of History at Tel Aviv University. She is the author of POWs and the Great War.

Reviews

This book has great merit. It compares various case studies in Europe and beyond and, thus, offers a broad picture of internment operations. Such a wide-ranging approach presents the multiple categories of individuals interned, including combatants, enemy aliens, and political prisoners; widespread camp locations; and connections among state practices. The reflections that chapters propose on the global character of this wartime phenomena also helps foster an understanding of the First World War beyond the battlefield and beyond the period of 1914-18.

* H-Net *

For all these reasons, this book is necessary reading for anyone interested in the history of internment and war captivity.

* H-net *



Book Information
ISBN 9781501765902
Author Rotem Kowner
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 907g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 22mm