I greatly enjoy reading about history, especially certain eras of history. One of those eras is the time period surrounding World War II. I find this period of time fascinating. In light of that interest, I decided to pick up and read Black Earth: The Holocaust As History And Warning, by Timothy Snyder. I thought it would be an interesting examination of one of the darkest periods of the twentieth century. It was not.

I found it very hard to read Black Earth. Snyder’s writing style was dry and cumbersome, and lacked any kind of excitement. His research was quite extensive, and it shows. He looked in great detail at the mind and politics of Hitler and German before and during the war. But his presentation was very dull, and lacked luster. I did find the history and the look into Hitler’s thought processes interesting, as much as I was able to stay engaged.

It is quite obvious that Snyder comes at this topic from a liberal perspective. And while I am not against reading books that I may not agree with, his approach belittles any other viewpoint, especially more conservative ones, if he acknowledges them at all.

And he makes some connections that make no sense whatsoever. The “lessons” he wants us to learn from the Holocaust, he applies to climate change and global warning, warning this generation to not make similar mistakes as those who lived in the 1930s and 40s. How he managed to make such a comparison, I have no idea. And beyond that, he ridicules those who reject the notion and political stance of climate change, implying that those who take an opposing view have their heads stuck in the sand.

I accept that we are called to be stewards of this earth. However, I do not believe that climate change is caused by mankind, or is much more than a political platform. And connecting such as that to the murder of 11 million people is absurd.

And finally, while is historical research seems to be thorough, he neglected to check facts when referring to the Bible. The few times he refers to Scripture, or quotes it, he pulls passages completely out of context. A simple check could have corrected such mistakes.

Overall, I did not enjoy Black Earth. It was very difficult even to summon the desire and energy to finish reading it.

The only redeeming feature was found in the final couple of chapters, where Snyder relates several personal stories of people who were involved in the events surrounding the Holocaust, and many who survived it. These stories were very interesting, and enjoyable. Without them, this book would not even be something I could recommend at all.

Ratings & Details For Black Earth by Timothy Snyder:

• Genre/Style: History, 20th century
• Purpose/Premise: 4 of 10 stars
• Spiritual Content: 2 of 10 stars
• Readability/Flow: 3 of 10 stars
• Cover: 6 of 10 stars
• Overall Rating: 3 of 10 stars

Question: Have you read any history of the Holocaust? If so, what books and authors have you enjoyed? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Crown Publishers as part of their Blogging For Books blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.