Island Refuge

The acrimonious debate over British policy towards refugees from the Nazi régime has scarcely died down even now, some 60 years later. Bitter charges of indifference and lack of feeling are still levelled at politicians and civil servants, and the assertion is made that Great Britain's record on refugee matters is shabby and unworthy of its liberal traditions. Island Refuge is the definitive account of a largely unexplored and still highly controversial episode in twentieth-century history. This reprinted edition contains a new preface discussing historiographical developments since the first edition.

The acrimonious debate over British policy towards refugees from the Nazi régime has scarcely died down even now, some 60 years later. Bitter charges of indifference and lack of feeling are still levelled at politicians and civil servants, and the assertion is made that Great Britain's record on refugee matters is shabby and unworthy of its liberal traditions. Island Refuge is the definitive account of a largely unexplored and still highly controversial episode in twentieth-century history. This reprinted edition contains a new preface discussing historiographical developments since the first edition.

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The first edition (1973: Yankee Rover Inc.) was based on then newly- released official documents and explored the development of the British Government's refugee policy, concluding that its record in dealing with refugees of the Third Reich had been "comparatively compassionate, even generous." Recent commentators have asserted that more could and should have been done. This edition is updated with the author's discussion of the historical fallacy of hindsight and the importance of weighing the record in its historical context. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)