Paul Lawrence Rose Livres

Examines the history of antisemitism in Germany, explaining how Christian antisemitism became secularized and developed into extreme racism, and discussing how these ideas led to the tragedies of the Holocaust

The examination of antisemitism in German thought reveals a continuous thread linking medieval theological views, exemplified by Martin Luther, to modern racial antisemitism. Paul Rose challenges conventional distinctions between these two forms, proposing a cohesive narrative that underscores the persistence of antisemitic sentiments throughout history. This fresh perspective invites readers to reconsider the evolution of antisemitic ideology in Germany.

Digging deep into the archival records among formerly secret technical reports, Rose chronicles the story of Werner Heisenberg, whose task it was to build an atomic bomb for Nazi Germany.

Exploring the question of whether Wagner was a forerunner of Nazism, or a true believer in human liberation - a racist or a revolutionary - this book argues that the debate until now has been misconceived, and that Wagner was an important shaper of the peculiarly racist revolutionism which was to triumph so devastatingly under Hitler. The author reinterprets Wagner's career against a backdrop of contemporary history and ideology, with implications for the understanding of the operas, from the Ring cycle to Parsifal.

Richard Wagner wird von seinen Verehrern gerne in zwei Hälften geteilt, den begnadeten Musiker einerseits und den irrenden politischen Dilettanten andererseits. Paul Lawrence Rose setzt beide Hälften wieder zu einer Person zusammen. Er zeigt die geistesgeschichtliche Kontinuität vom Barrikadenkämpfer des Jahres 1848 bis hin zum rhetorischen Judenausrotter der späteren Jahre und entwickelt dabei das Konzept des „revolutionären Antisemitismus“, der seine Vollendung in Hitler fand. Wer Wagners Opern wirklich verstehen will, wird an diesem Werk nicht vorbeikommen. „Für die Leser dieses Buches werden Wagners Opern nie wieder die gleichen sei.“ The Independent