Description: Kidnapped Souls: National Indifference and the Battle for Children in the Bohemian Lands, 1900-1948 by Tara Zahra Zahra shows how nationalists in the Bohemian Lands worked to forge political cultures in which children belonged more rightfully to the national collective than to their parents. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Throughout the nineteenth and into the early decades of the twentieth century, it was common for rural and working-class parents in the Czech-German borderlands to ensure that their children were bilingual by sending them to live with families who spoke the "other" language. As nationalism became a more potent force in Central Europe, however, such practices troubled pro-German and pro-Czech activists, who feared that the children born to their nation could literally be "lost" or "kidnapped" from the national community through such experiences and, more generally, by parents who were either flexible about national belonging or altogether indifferent to it.Highlighting this indifference to nationalism-and concerns about such apathy among nationalists-Kidnapped Souls offers a surprising new perspective on Central European politics and society in the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on Austrian, Czech, and German archives, Tara Zahra shows how nationalists in the Bohemian Lands worked to forge political cultures in which children belonged more rightfully to the national collective than to their parents. Through their educational and social activism to fix the boundaries of nation and family, Zahra finds, Czech and German nationalists reveal the set of beliefs they shared about children, family, democracy, minority rights, and the relationship between the individual and the collective. Zahra shows that by 1939 a vigorous tradition of Czech-German nationalist competition over children had created cultures that would shape the policies of the Nazi occupation and the Czech response to it.The book's concluding chapter weighs the prehistory and consequences of the postwar expulsion of German families from the Bohemian Lands. Kidnapped Souls is a significant contribution to our understanding of the genealogy of modern nationalism in Central Europe and a groundbreaking exploration of the ways in which children have been the objects of political contestation when national communities have sought to shape, or to reshape, their futures. Author Biography Tara Zahra is Associate Professor of History at the University of Chicago. Review "This innovative, thoroughly researched, comprehensive book breaks with traditional scholarship in important respects and poses fresh new historical questions. It is sure to be mined by a generation of readers for its rich contextualization and thoughtful analyses." * American Historical Review * "Tara Zahra captures and exhibits the elusive with remarkable documentation, impressive hard work, and exemplary historians craft. Kidnapped Souls is not only an excellent book for providing the history of the essentially invisible actors (children), but, is also an exceptional achievement in writing the history of an absence (indifference to nationalism)." * Canadian Journal of History * Long Description Throughout the nineteenth and into the early decades of the twentieth century, it was common for rural and working-class parents in the Czech-German borderlands to ensure that their children were bilingual by sending them to live with families who spoke the "other" language. As nationalism became a more potent force in Central Europe, however, such practices troubled pro-German and pro-Czech activists, who feared that the children born to their nation could literally be "lost" or "kidnapped" from the national community through such experiences and, more generally, by parents who were either flexible about national belonging or altogether indifferent to it. Highlighting this indifference to nationalism--and concerns about such apathy among nationalists--Kidnapped Souls offers a surprising new perspective on Central European politics and society in the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on Austrian, Czech, and German archives, Tara Zahra shows how nationalists in the Bohemian Lands worked to forge political cultures in which children belonged more rightfully to the national collective than to their parents. Through their educational and social activism to fix the boundaries of nation and family, Zahra finds, Czech and German nationalists reveal the set of beliefs they shared about children, family, democracy, minority rights, and the relationship between the individual and the collective. Zahra shows that by 1939 a vigorous tradition of Czech-German nationalist competition over children had created cultures that would shape the policies of the Nazi occupation and the Czech response to it. The books concluding chapter weighs the prehistory and consequences of the postwar expulsion of German families from the Bohemian Lands. Kidnapped Souls is a significant contribution to our understanding of the genealogy of modern nationalism in Central Europe and a groundbreaking exploration of the ways in which children have been the objects of political contestation when national communities have sought to shape, or to reshape, their futures. Review Quote "This innovative, thoroughly researched, comprehensive book breaks with traditional scholarship in important respects and poses fresh new historical questions. It is sure to be mined by a generation of readers for its rich contextualization and thoughtful analyses."-American Historical Review Details ISBN0801446287 Author Tara Zahra Short Title KIDNAPPED SOULS Pages 279 Publisher Cornell University Press Language English ISBN-10 0801446287 ISBN-13 9780801446283 Media Book Format Hardcover DEWEY 305.230 Illustrations Yes Year 2008 Publication Date 2008-02-28 Imprint Cornell University Press Subtitle National Indifference and the Battle for Children in the Bohemian Lands, 1900-1948 Place of Publication Ithaca Country of Publication United States Edition 2nd DOI 10.1604/9780801446283 Audience General/Trade UK Release Date 2008-01-02 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:159629192;
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ISBN-13: 9780801446283
Book Title: Kidnapped Souls: National Indifference and the Battle for Childre
Number of Pages: 304 Pages
Language: English
Publication Name: Kidnapped Souls: National Indifference and the Battle for Children in the Bohemian Lands, 1900-1948
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication Year: 2008
Subject: History
Item Height: 235 mm
Item Weight: 28 g
Type: Textbook
Author: Tara Zahra
Item Width: 155 mm
Format: Hardcover
