The Palgrave Handbook of Britain and the Holocaust

This handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date single volume on the history and memory of the Holocaust in Britain. It traces the complex relationship between Britain and the destruction of Europe’s Jews, from societal and political responses to persecution in the 1930s, through formal reactions to war and genocide, to works of representation and remembrance in post-war Britain. Through this process the handbook not only updates existing historiography of Britain and the Holocaust; it also adds new dimensions to our understanding by exploring the constant interface and interplay of history and memory. The chapters bring together internationally renowned academics and talented younger scholars. Collectively, they examine a raft of themes and issues concerning the actions of contemporaries to the Holocaust, and the responses of those who came ‘after’. At a time when the Holocaust-related activity in Britain proceeds apace, the contributors to this handbook highlight the importance of rooting what we know and understand about Britain and the Holocaust in historical actuality. This, the volume suggests, is the only way to respond meaningfully to the challenges posed by the Holocaust and ensure that the memory of it has purpose.

About the Author

Tom Lawson is Professor of History at Northumbria University, UK. He is the author and editor of several books including The Church of England and the Holocaust (2006), Debates on the Holocaust (2010) and The Last Man: A British Genocide in Tasmania (2014). He is the co-editor of the journal Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History , and co-edits the Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide series. Andy Pearce is Associate Professor in Holocaust and History Education at University College London, UK. He is the author of Holocaust Consciousness in Contemporary Britain (2014), editor of Remembering the Holocaust in Educational Settings (2018), and co-editor of Holocaust Education 25 Years On (2018) and Holocaust Education: Contemporary Challenges&Controversies (2020). He works in teacher education, conducts educational research and is a historian of Britain and the Holocaust.