Synopses & Reviews
This fascinating book tells the forgotten story of four to five thousand British civilians who were interned at the Ruhleben camp near Berlin during the First World War and formed a unique community in the heart of enemy territory. The civilians included academics, musicians, businessmen, seamen and even tourists who had been in Germany for only a few days when war broke out. This book takes a fresh look at German internment policies within an international context, using Ruhleben camp as a particular example to illustrate broader themes including the background to the German decision to intern "enemy aliens," Ruhleben as a "community at war," the role of civilian internment in wartime diplomacy and propaganda, and the place of Ruhleben in British memory of the war. This study will be of interest to all scholars working on the First World War, and to all those concerned with the broader impact of modern conflicts on national identities and community formation.
Synopsis
Explores the forgotten story of civilian internment during the First World War through a case study of the British prisoners held at Ruhleben in Germany.
About the Author
Matthew Stibbe is Reader in History at Sheffield Hallam University.
Table of Contents
List of figures * List of tables * Acknowledgements * List of abbreviations * Introduction * The politics of alien internment in Germany * Inside Ruhleben I: administration and physical conditions * Inside Ruhleben II: the prisoner community * Relief, punishments and reprisals * The end of internment * Ruhleben in British memory * Conclusion * Appendix * Bibliography * Index