The collaborators : three stories of deception and survival in World War II /
Buruma, Ian.
The collaborators : three stories of deception and survival in World War II / Ian Buruma. - London : Atlantic Books, 2023. - 320 pages ; 24 cm.
On the face of it, Felix Kersten, Kawashima Yoshiko, Friedrich Weinreb, seem to have little in common - aside from the fact that each committed wartime acts that led some to see them as national heroes, and others as villains. All three were mythmakers, larger-than-life storytellers, for whom the truth was beside the point. All three figures have been vilified and mythologised, out of a never-ending need, Ian Buruma argues, to see history, and particularly war, and above all World War II, as a neat tale of angels and devils. In telling their often-self-invented stories, 'The Collaborators' offers a fascinating reconstruction of what in fact we can know about these fantasists and what will always remain out of reach. It is also an examination of the power and credibility of history, truth is always a relative concept but perhaps especially so in times of political turmoil, not unlike our own.
9781838957650 (hbk.) : 20.00 1838957650 (hbk.) : 20.00
Kersten, Felix, 1898-1960.
Kawashima, Yoshiko, 1906?-1948.
Weinreb, Friedrich, 1910-1988.
World War, 1939-1945--Collaborationists.
World War, 1939-1945--Historiography.
Warfare and Defence.
Warfare and Defence.
Biography: historical, political & military.
European history.
Second World War.
D810.C696
940.5316 BUR
The collaborators : three stories of deception and survival in World War II / Ian Buruma. - London : Atlantic Books, 2023. - 320 pages ; 24 cm.
On the face of it, Felix Kersten, Kawashima Yoshiko, Friedrich Weinreb, seem to have little in common - aside from the fact that each committed wartime acts that led some to see them as national heroes, and others as villains. All three were mythmakers, larger-than-life storytellers, for whom the truth was beside the point. All three figures have been vilified and mythologised, out of a never-ending need, Ian Buruma argues, to see history, and particularly war, and above all World War II, as a neat tale of angels and devils. In telling their often-self-invented stories, 'The Collaborators' offers a fascinating reconstruction of what in fact we can know about these fantasists and what will always remain out of reach. It is also an examination of the power and credibility of history, truth is always a relative concept but perhaps especially so in times of political turmoil, not unlike our own.
9781838957650 (hbk.) : 20.00 1838957650 (hbk.) : 20.00
Kersten, Felix, 1898-1960.
Kawashima, Yoshiko, 1906?-1948.
Weinreb, Friedrich, 1910-1988.
World War, 1939-1945--Collaborationists.
World War, 1939-1945--Historiography.
Warfare and Defence.
Warfare and Defence.
Biography: historical, political & military.
European history.
Second World War.
D810.C696
940.5316 BUR