Mark Levene, The Crisis of Genocide (Oxford University Press, 2014)
I imagine one of the greatest compliments an author of an historical monograph can receive is to hear that his or her book changed the way a subject is taught.\n\nI will do just that after reading Mark Levene\u2018s new two volume work The Crisis of Genocide\xa0(2 Vols. Devastation: \xa0The European Rimlands, 1912-1938; Annihilation and The European Rimlands, 1938-1953) (Oxford University Press, 2014).\xa0\xa0These books, a continuation of Mark\u2019s earlier volumes titled Genocide in the Age of the Nation State, offer a rich and thought-provoking analysis of the ways in which the changing expectations and culture of the international system interacted with local events and personalities to drive mass violence. \xa0The work is more analytical than narrative. \xa0It is complex and requires careful attention to argument and evidence. \xa0But it amply repays this effort with a reading of modern European history that made me rethink how I understood the period. \xa0I learned much from the book about the details of violence in Anatolia and the Balkans. \xa0But it was his broader treatment of the changing norms \xa0of international relations that really made me think hard.\n\nLevene\u2019s earlier volume established his work as a must-read for historians of genocide and mass violence. \xa0His new volumes deserve equal praise.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies