This book is excellent in every regard. It is well-written and superbly organized. It breaks the teaching of the Holocaust into various components (personal accounts, primary sources, music, art, etc.). Anyone who teaches the Holocaust or is considering doing so should start his/her work on the subject with this book.

Divided into thirteen chapters, Teaching And Studying The Holocaust presents some of the most noted and informed Holocaust studies educators teaching and writing in the United States. Included are primary documents, first-person accounts, film, literature, art, drama, music, and technology relevant to the study of the Holocaust. Also included is a major chapter on Holocaust historiography and an extensive annotated bibliography specifically designed for researchers and classroom educators. Teaching And Studying The Holocaust should be found in every academic and community library Holocaust Studies reference collection for the benefit of teachers, students, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in preserving the memory of the Holocaust so that it can never be permitted to happen again.

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Samuel Totten (Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education and Health Professions, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville) and Steven Leonard Jacobs (Associate Professor and Aaron Aronov Chair of Judaic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa), Pioneers Of Genocide Studies is a scholarly, 617-page compendium of learned essays contributed by a variety of informed and informative authors concerning the phenomena of twentieth-century mass murder -- especially as inspired, sanctioned, or perpetrated by governmental states. Addressing the pervasive prevalence of brutal extermination from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, theology, and law, Pioneers Of Genocide Studies also attempts to answer the question of what must be done if genocide is ever to end. Pioneers Of Genocide Studies is a seminal and highly recommended contribution to academic reference collections in the fields of 20th Century World History, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Holocaust Studies, Judaic Studies, and Political Science.

There is no doubt that literature--whether novels, plays, or poetry--can tell stories that communicate an emotional truth in a way that factual narratives cannot. This is not to say that factual narratives aren't powerful; just that literature has a different kind of power.

This extraordinary collection of essays, written by some of America's foremost Holocaust educators, teaches the reader how to harness the power of literature in making the truth both real and relevant. Covering ground both familiar and controversial (one writer frankly discusses why she is reluctant to use Anne Frank's diary in the classroom), there is something in each essay to stimulate any reader, no matter what the background.

Certain essays stand out. Vermont high school teacher Beth Dutton's, about using Holocaust-themed poetry to reach even too-cool too-hip high school students, is chock full of examples ready to be used in classrooms everywhere. Carol Danks' essay is also very strong. But there are no weak links in the lot.

As more and more states mandate Holocaust education in public schools, and as private and parochial schools underscore their own offerings, Teaching Holocaust Literature is going to show up on more and more teachers' shelves. This will be a very good thing. Let's just hope, with more and more Holocaust-themed offerings coming from writers and artists, that editor Totten will want to bring out a second edition of this book in a few years. America and the world deserves it. --Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, authors ANNE FRANK AND ME (Putnam, March 2001)