Concentration Camps, Dan Stone
Concentration Camps, Dan Stone
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Concentration Camps
A Very Short Introduction

Author: Dan Stone

Narrator: Paul Woodson

Unabridged: 4 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/25/2019


Synopsis

Concentration camps are a relatively new invention, a recurring feature of twentieth century warfare, and one that is important to the modern global consciousness and identity. Although the most famous concentration camps are those under the Nazis, the use of concentration camps originated several decades before the Third Reich, in the Philippines and in the Boer War, and they have been used again in numerous locations, not least during the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda. Over the course of the twentieth century they have become defining symbols of humankind's lowest point and basest acts.

In this Very Short Introduction, Dan Stone gives a global history of concentration camps. Setting concentration camps against the longer history of incarceration, he explains how the ability of the modern state to control populations led to the creation of this extreme institution. Looking at their emergence and spread around the world, Stone argues that concentration camps serve the purpose, from the point of view of the state in crisis, of removing a section of the population that is perceived to be threatening, traitorous, or diseased. Drawing on contemporary accounts of camps, as well as the philosophical literature surrounding them, Stone considers the story camps tell us about the nature of the modern world as well as about specific regimes.

About Dan Stone

Dan Stone is Professor of Modern History at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he is also Director of the Holocaust Research Centre. He is the author or editor of sixteen books, including Histories of the Holocaust and The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and its Aftermath, and some seventy scholarly articles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeroen on February 18, 2021

This little booklet offers an informative and obviously harrowing outline of the evolution of concentration camps. From one of the first camp systems in German South West Africa to the extensive network of labour and extermination camps throughout Nazi Germany, this compact history supplies the read......more

Goodreads review by Jason on July 15, 2020

Did a good job of explaining a great deal quickly, which is realistically what was asked of this. Was probably too soft on the gulag system, specifically Kolyma, Vorkuta, and Magadan, but the perspective was still refreshing........more

Goodreads review by Nicolas on January 30, 2025

Quick summary of some concentration camps. Not all concentration camps were death/extermination camps like Auschwitz. Slave labor concentration camps existed in Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. Concentration camps existed in the U.S. with the Japanese. The origins of concentration camps were likely in......more

Goodreads review by Edward on May 02, 2023

"Concentration Camps, A Very Short Introduction" by Professor Dan Stone of the University of London; (2019: 126 pages). This brief read is anything but a quick one. A series of profound topics are identified / discussed and many paths for continued research presented. Reviewing the table of contents......more

Goodreads review by Solveig on January 17, 2024

If you are wondering whether Gaza is a concentration camp or not, I recommend this book. The ubiquity (for lack of a better word) of concentration camps is an eye-opener. Which means we get to decide whether we just accept that or prefer a world without.......more