Pan Mac pre-empts The Holocaust Before Hitler

Pan Macmillan has pre-empted a new history acquisition: The Holocaust Before Hitler.

The book focuses on the slaughter of over 100,000 Jews during the Russian Civil War of 1917-1921. It is described as "a riveting and disquieting examination” of what is a “largely forgotten pogrom”. It strives to illuminate the preconditions for the genocidal violence that took place in some of the very same towns, and against the same people, 22 years later.  

The author, Jeffrey Veidlinger, is the son of a holocaust survivor and the director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, where he also serves as the Joseph Brodsky Collegiate Professor of History and Judaic Studies.  

Editorial director for non-fiction, Georgina Morley, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights from sister company Henry Holt, through rights director Devon Mazzone. Sara Bershtel acquired world rights for Holt/Metropolitan from Don Fehr at Trident Media. The title will be published in 2019.

Morley said: "We were all blown away by the quality of the proposal and I’m convinced it will be a genuinely important and groundbreaking work of history when we publish in 2019."