A wide-ranging synthesis of historical writing on the Jewish Holocaust, covering the contributions of Israeli, American and European scholars on all aspects of the subject. Individual chapters deal with Jewish resistance, the collaboration or otherwise of non-Jewish populations in countries occupied by the Nazis, the progress of the final solution and the role of the Catholic Church. Steering a course between widely divergent interpretations, Marrus argues strongly in favour of an understanding of Hitler, Nazism and the Holocaust, as well as of the Jews themselves. He sees them operating in response to events and opportunities, and attacks views of the period that rely on the spurious wisdom of hindsight.