You sort of have these multiple reinforcements of this process all the while opening cascading throughout the night. Again, thank you very much for coming out helping me to tell these stories. [applause] i am happy to sign books either to you or to any of your holiday gift recipients. Thank you very much for coming out tonight. [inaudible conversations] booktv is on facebook. Like this to get publishing news, schedule updates, behind the scenes pictures and figures. Author information and to talk directly with others during our live program. Facebook. Com booktv. Heres a look at some upcoming book fairs and festivals happening around the country. Saturday january 24 is being called National Readathon day by a group. What is National Readathon they . So National Readathon day is a day in january coming at january 24, were all across america we are inviting readers to commit to spend the afternoon reading any books that they like and you can do it at home or in any of the many venues participant across the country which includes libraries and bookstores and schools. And why are you promoting it . Thats a wonderful large and complicated question but essentially our hope is to find different ways in the coming years to really foster a culture of reading in america and remind people of what the experience is like to sit and really dedicate a nice long swath of time to reading. We have feedback all the time that people read books less now because they feel they dont have time or they do in little snippets here and there but theres a real pleasure that comes from really getting lost in the world of a book that is to do if youre checking your phone every few minutes or on the go between different venues. We wanted to remember what that expense was like and get a little lost again in the world of books. So you are setting a timeframe for this for hours 12 noon to 4 p. M. On saturday afternoon spent exactly right. We agree to four hours was longer than any of us normally spend reading a book but not so onerous that it would be impossible for people with kids or jobs or other things going on that there will be no way that they could actually sit and do it. That was the agreed upon time is in reasonable amounts to ask everyone to try to set aside and and. Jynne martin, are the groups participating in that . We have a lot of different groups but everything from book clubs to localize for his in schools and on the readathon website there is a list state by state of different venues by cities that are participating. You can go there to see if a place near you is are producing and you can go join from noon to four states if someone wants to do this at home, how can they stay in contact with the larger group . Is there besides the website, is there a hash that . Yes, absolutely. Were using the timetoread remind people about why we make time to read important. You can search time to read on a negative of platforms you all receive budget of the people participating talking about what it is they plan to be reading to a saturday and you can share yourself using what youll be reading why youre excited about. Maybe with your cat snuggled up on your lap and participate in the larger Virtual Community that way. It is a money aspect to this as well. What is that . There is. Sort of summer to allow people to walk bonds or run a marathon for charity. We are inviting people come is optional but we love it wanted to consider raising money for the National Book foundation. The National Book foundation is most famous for the National Book awards that they give out every fall in fiction and nonfiction and poetry but they also do incredible work around the country bringing everything from literacy training tutoring home libraries, often speak to kids in needy communities around america communities that are not necessary getting the first, rich programming in books and the National Book foundation is filling that gap to suddenly race ago to help support their ongoing efforts for that program. So how does one contribute speak with great question. You can find on the readathon website to link to first getting. It is a platform for donations that many people of already are familiar with but its again similar to what is used for marathons and walkathon. You can donate any amount or set up your own fundraising page and raise funds that way. Its under the event called National Readathon day. So it is easy to find spent is there a target for how much money you want to raise . This is her first year trying to do this so were just living a completely open to see what is happening at im thrilled is almost 15,000 raised already in these early days but im really ready pleased to see the diversity of people donating and really its the kind of thing where even small amounts, five 10, 20 will make a big difference in overall getting us to a really nice number to give to the National Book foundation. So this is a benefit to the National Book foundation but who are some of the corporate sponsors behind National Readathon they . With a great group they came together, good reads is on board and has been talking about the readathon in their newsletter and on the website. They could having a Reading Party in San Francisco which is where the headquarters is and then one of the leading tech websites and has this incredible Monthly Book Club called national reads club. They are participating an event like that on their social media and theyre having a book party on readathon day in their headquarters in new york. From coasttocoast some nice sponsors speed and dont forget your own boss which is painful and random house. Thank you, peter. I would be in trouble for that one. And justin england random house, the Publishing Company come weve been supporting effort as well making his lovely videos which just started releasing yesterday actually and its writers like talk about why books are important in their lives of white in a time to read and they are fun but theyre also on the website and to be found on the social Media Channels again searching for that time to read hashtag. Making time to read is important because its biggest if you dont make time to read your brain will rot. A book can entertain. They cant enlighten. Theres nothing like a book to make you see the world anyway. If i get some of the impact books have had on my life, i would say they have saved my life. I have never been without a book. A book unlike almost anything else in life today dont require a password speaking i read when i should be looking at television. Its hard to find time to read but when you do, i always find. I developed my love for reading as a boy spent by the age of 10 i was already reading all kinds of crazy stuff. Spent don quixote of ivanhoe. And trash too. Alice in wonderland, treasure island. A faraway look comes into a childs eyes. His or her mouth drops open and you know that the child is lost in the story. To me that is the ideal time spent i like to pick up a book at my local network bookstore because i like a random encounter. For a little while why youre reading you leave your own world, leader of space and inhabit someone elses soul. Everything we hold dear is in books. All you have to do is pick them up spent a while, get a book and read. Keep reading. National readathon day, saturday january 24, noon to 4 p. M. In your time zone but the website once again jynne martin . Penguin random house. Com readathon, just search National Readathon day. Its the first thing that comes out. Thank you very much. Thank you. Booktv is on twitter and facebook. Ever want to hear from you. Tweet us twitter. Com booktv or post a comment on our facebook page. Facebook. Com booktv. Heres a look at some books that are being published this week. Look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on booktv and on booktv. Org. And now on your screen the Entrance Hall to the Las Vegas Convention certain, home of ces international, the annual trade show for consumer technology. This is the largest trade show in the world, and that the communicators is on location. This week well look at some of the new technologies that are coming out from ces international and talk to policymakers as well. This is the communicators on cspan from las vegas. Host well, gary shapiro give us a snapshot of 2015 ces international. Guest kicks off the year great, the centerpiece superl bowl, place for connoisseurs of innovation. They certainly have all come here. Were well over 160,000 people setting records by every measure for the show, but whats really impressive is not just the numbers of people, or the numbers of the exhibits or the size, but what is being shown here, the hope for the future if you will. This show used to be about television and radio and cd players and vcrs and things like that expanding into home office and then the internet came along, and it was about the internet and connectivity. Weve shifted even further and gone into, in a sense solving problems of the world. Not to sound too grandiose, but what were talking about is transportation problems are being solved a lot of driverless cars, safe cars, Food Production hunger. Theres a lot of ways of sensing crops, how theyre building, you know how much water to use. Health care. My gosh, theres more solutions for health care. Its exploded here. Sensors which get information to the doctor analyze information, use the cloud. And then safety. Safety in the home, safety of drones safety of everything. In an easy way exploring things remotely. So youre taking a lot of problems which perplexed us the last several years, and were going to be reducing them in the future x. Thats what really charges me up and we have so many ways to go still. The next several cess should be really, really interesting. Host 160,000 people attending, how many exhibiters . Guest 3600 plus, and thats more than 100 than we had last year. Its 2. 2 million net square feet of exhibit space. Its about 150,000 square feet more than last year. 150,000 square feet is the size of a show thats on the top 100 shows or so in the country. So we have added like a whole new show with this one event. Itll be difficult to pass that. Were a little space con strawned with the existing constrained with the existing facilities were able to use in Las Vegas Next year. Were trying to figure out creative ways to accommodate the companies that want to exhibit with us, frankly. Host well, you take over the Convention Center which is three big halls youve taken over the sands center here in vegas, and youre in several of the hotels as well. Guest yeah. So theres three major locations. Tech east is where we are now in the hotel that used to be called the hilton, now the westgate, and then the renaissance next door, and then the sands and venetian, we filled that. And then we started a new area could c space, and that is the aria hotel and its actually dedicated to content and entertainment, and we have our friends from the content entertainment industry, people who market on the internet and others, and thats exploded. We have people we sometimes disagree with like cbs les moonves, and all the others are there as well. Host mark fields, president of ford, did the keynote this year. A car guy gave the keynote at ces. Guest well, ford has been here for nine years now. Actually, mark fields have been on the keynote stage with bill gates about 11 years or so. Why not . They define themselves as a Technology Company and mark fields is keeping that going. He gave a fabulous keynote, and he talked about the future of transportation around the world and how they have a vision as a company, and it make sense. Host gary shapiro, how many government officials come to this event and what does cea have a message for them . Guest we have every fcc commissioner, members of congress, its a little new this year because we started when congress was starting, but we have members of congress that made the trip. And we also had a Large International delegation including two french cabinet ministers and a whole french delegation in governors, ambassadors to the United States because this is a destination for innovation and technology. The message for the domestic people, they want to learn, and i respect that. But the message is look what is here look at the 3600 companies that are here, look what is happening in the future, and be careful of any policy. You dont want to choke innovation no matter what. We realize there are safety issues guidelines. Government has a major and important role. But, please regulate with knowledge. Dont just regulate from the beltway. Internationally, the message is they all want to be like the u. S. They want to be innovators frankly. What are we doing right, how do we get our country positioned as ap innovator . And france especially, more than any other country right now is saying we want to be innovators, how can we do that . They have over 100 French Companies 150 actually exhibiting here. We have over 40,000 people from outside the United States coming to this event. Host what were some of the new companies here this year, some of the up and comers that excited you . Guest well, you know, you have the Large Companies from different fields that come here, and that excites us like under armour or lowes reflecting the intelligent homes. Under armour Wearable Technology and obviously warbles are big. But what really is the buzz and the excitement honestly is our startup area in the sands Convention Center. 350 companies, compared to 220 last year. You have to be a startup, you have to qualify but the emails im getting and the people are telling me they p spent three hours there. These are ceos saying eureka park, what excitement. And a lot of this is about we live in a world where anyone can innovate. Its because of these chips that Great Companies like nvidia and intel make you do a program that analyzes data and all of a sudden, you know youre creating wearable devices of all types, creating new things authority car, aftermarket products. Theres little chips that you wear, theres even chips you put in clothing now that measure your clothing, and now theres even i was excited when i heard about my wife is a doctor and said the most Exciting Company she saw is a company for women only, a cervical ring that you insert and it tells you when you are fertile which the vaticans interested in and people trying to con seen. Conceive. This gives you 48 hours, and not only that the information in the future will also provide everything that this provides. It could provide information on your heartbeat, on hour you go, and how far you go, and those devices are all over. I know this isnt for you, i can tell by the expression on your face, but these are things well be dealing with, washington will be dealing with a lot of these things. These are devices that have information, theres issues involving privacy, safety, of course, all the time. And theres issues involving even cybersecurity as you get to information devices like the this. Host all right. Two final questions, got to go to policy. You had all the fcc commissioners out here. A couple of big issues theyre confronting in the next month, Net Neutrality decision, mergers and spectrum. Does your organization cea, have positions on those three issues . Guest yes, we do. Ill start with the last. Spectrum is our oxygen, and its both licensed and unlicensed. The licensed sector people buy big Companies Like verizon and at t comcast, and they use it for whatever they really want service for their customers which usually they end up paying in some way watching advertising or something. Theres an auction thats gone well, the next auction we need is a lott of the Television Spectrum because we need that to get Broadband Wireless that americans want with. We also want unlicensed and thats where anyone with an idea can use it and create a product used for Garage Door Openers but also wifi. And if it wasnt for wifi, we couldnt do everything we wanted to do. So thats important. We think the fccs doing a terrific job. The over the air broadcasters are doing their best to throw a Monkey Wrench in the process. Theyve already delayed it with a lawsuit but well work through it. The second issue cybersecurity is a very important issue, of course. Especially after the sony thing and the Credit Card Companies were going to have to deal with it, live wit and rely heavily on our government and also caution consumers about what they do. And with every New Invention that comes up, theres always some downside, and this is one of the downsides of internet and wireless technology. Other people could get in and do some bad things. But well survive. Its a balancing act. Host Net Neutrality. Guest and Net Neutrality is something where, look i think the parties are in agreement on 99 percent of it. Everyone wants an open internet, Everyone Wants broadband deployment, and Everyone Wants investment in broadband infrastructure in the country, and the question is how you balance that out. And i think theres a lot of paranoia on both sides, i think but we cant get caught up too much in it and try to do something which is going to restrict not only investment, but competition. Because competition is the answer. If we can get as americans have a choice of real good Broadband Services and we could choose who we want, then the issue of Net Neutrality goes away because then any company could do what they want and we could just change our company. But thats the goal, is to have choice. And the prices go down dramatically which is what really consumers want. But one of the big announcements of the show is going to affect the landscape of that dish announcement. Packaging together a whole bunch of everything spn and espn and a lot of other Services Together and wow, do it over the internet. Not over a dish can not over cable. Thats a game changer and were going to see more announcements like that. And five years from now the whole media landscape will look different. Host finally, when does planning for ces 2016 begin . Guest ive had more meetings about 2016 and 2017 than i have about this show, to be perfectly honest with you. Were also taking this event in a smaller version to shanghai in may, and we have a lot of huge american and Chinese Companies and europeans that have already signed up. So were very excited because were pretty big here. The china market the asia marketplace is growing, and we want to it took 48 years to get this show to this point. Its not going to take 48 years to get that shanghai show. Were going to start less, but we want to grow and grow. We want to be dominant in technology. Host in fact, in your tours weve noticed a lot more Chinese Companies than in the past. Is that correct . Guest fewer japanese and more chinese. We always see the world shift as to whos dominant. Right now the chinese are the low cost manufacturers, theyre trying to get brand names thats why theyre here. But the cycle will continue. Where we are right now though where the intellectual property design, the chips the unique ways of putting it together, thats where the battles going to be fought. Host gary shapiro runs the ces International Show. Guest thank you so much for cspan coverage. Host so, mark fields, why is a car guy giving the keynote address at ces . Guest well, we really use the Consumer Electronics show as a place to highlight our innovations. We started coming out here this 2007. We were the first oem to come out to the Consumer Electronics show. We did it originally to launch our sync system which was our incar connectivity system for pairing up mobile homes [inaudible] and its a great opportunity for us as a company to highlight our innovations. Were talking about our new sync iii system which is our next Generation System our semiAutonomous Vehicles that we have on the road today that people can buy our fully Autonomous Vehicles that were developing for the future, and were also as a Company Innovation for us is really important, and this is a show that encan compasses that. Host so at what point in your auto career with ford which began in 1989 did you start thinking of a car as a Communications Device . Guest you know its really interesting. When i joined the industry 25 years ago, at that time there were articles that a car was going to become a computer on wheels. And it never actually came to that in that time frame but now were seeing technological enablers allowing us to have this vehicle not only be a great industrial product in term of how it comes together and a great Consumer Product in terms of how its brought to market, but its a Great Technology product. So when we originally looked at connectivity and communication, it was about ten years ago when we started we looked at transportation a lot as a business because we need to use that to help Strategic Decisions on how we want to allocate our capital, where do we want to invest in the future. What we saw about eight nine ten years ago was this growth in mobile phones. And it was starting to grow the smartphone. Very nascent at the time, but we started seeing people really wanted to stay connects. So thats what drove us originally to develop the original sync system which we introduced back in 2007. Host so weve got apps on cars now, cell phones, all the different technologies, at what point does it become too much distraction . Guest yeah. Well, we spend a lot of time you know, our customer safety is of utmost importance to us. So what guides our whole strategy is we want to make sure we keep customers eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. So, for example our sync system is voice activated as well as you can use the touch screen. But we want the voice activation because we want customers to not get distracted. And as we look at the vehicle we look at the apps we put in the vehicle, those type of things, we have a very rigorous process as we work with developers to flush out the ones that are appropriate for our vehicles and the ones we dont feel are appropriate because theyre going to end up taking customers attention away from this prime objective which is to drive. Host youve mentioned the sync system a couple of times you recently made a change in how thats being developed. Whos your new partner and why . Guest well we developed it with qnx as the embedded operating system, were using Texas Instruments as the processer, the chip processer and were using panasonic to help develop the graphical user interface. Host wheres blackberry . Guest qnx host is a blackberry . Guest they have been an expert in embedded automotive operating systems for many, many years. And, you know our Current System uses the microsoft system which has been a fantastic system, and were going to continue to work with microsoft on a number of Different Things but we decided for this new system to switch. Host now, in your keynote address you talked about the need to have a high or purpose when making higher purpose when making cars. What did you mean by that . Guest when you go back to our founder henry ford, were a company thats 111 years old, and we have a heritage which to me, is a history with a future. And henry was all about not only putting out great products and earning a healthy return for the company, but he wanted to create a better society. He invented the moving Assembly Line which helped Economic Development in the country helped spur the next industrial revolution. He implemented the 5 a day wage which essentially helped create the american middle class. And thats still in our blood today. So thats what we mean by innovation with a higher purpose which is, you know, help develop a feature or a product or a service that satisfies customers, but also serves a societal need as well. And thats why were talking about mobility today and how were trying to use innovation to so some of to solve some of these very or very important traffic and con. Guest issues in these megacities around the world. Host so how do you do that . How do you solve that issue . Guest first, as a company its a mindset. Our mindset is were not only just a car, utility and truck company. Thats very important. But we also think of ourselves as a mobility company. And that opens up your mind wonderfully to how we think about the business. So first its a mind item set issue. And then, secondly you go about it by experimenting and learning. And what we talked about at our keynote today is the 25 global experiments that we put in place around the world to learn a couple of things. One is across the world how are people thinking about their mobility challenges and issues in their home country . Secondly, it allows us to get to know really great partners that we might want to continue to develop products and services with. And thirdly we think it just advances this whole issue of mobility which is, you know, going to become a bigger and big or issue on the planet as the middle class grows around the world, as major large cities keep growing and as we see the impacts on the air quality because of congestion. Host recently also ford announced that theyre expanding, youre expanding your Silicon Valley research center. What do you have there now what kind of research are you doing . Guest well, we have a small lab there right now and what were going to be doing and well talk later month about it, were going to expand for a couple of reasons. One, we think its important because when we look at the talent as were developing were in a Growth Business around the globe which is very, very exciting. And also now as a Technology Company, and we need to make sure that we have the right talent to complement the talent that we already have for some of these new skills that we need. So its really important at this stage to go to where some of that talent is and be involved in the community. Because one of the things that weve always tried to do by coming to ces and by visiting Silicon Valley very often i go three or four times a year for a couple of days at a time to learn, to establish relationships, but also to be viewed as part of the community and not just some transactional partner that kind of comes in, swoops in, buys something and then swoops out. Host mark fields is it are the nuts and bolts of a car and the broom of the car selling a car more than the technology or is it technology over safety now . Guest well, you know, it depends on the buyer. For the most part, a car is an emotional purchase for people. Its kind of an extension. They want to look good in it. They want its a car that represents themself. So you want to make sure that you know, our approach in the business is that we just have gorgeous design in every one of our vehicles because we want the reaction when the customer drives home and they pull up to their driveway, their neighbors coming out and saying, wow, whats that . So the design is very important, but the technology is, fuel efficiency, the safety and the quality are all things that we focus on. Host so how does a kid from brooklyn become a car guy . Guest you know ive always loved cars. When i was 6 years old, my dad bought me a matchbox set of about 20 cars, had a little case, and i was hooked. And i love cars and trucks, but i love this industry because its so important for the country, its so important for Economic Development, and we want to do our part. And to me, its just this wonderful, wonderful mixture of a great industrial product, a great Consumer Product a Great Technology product, and everybody wants to talk about it, and everybody has a point of view on it. And many stakeholders involved in it. I couldnt be more honored to work in this industry. Host and finally, this is cspan, so we need to talk a little public policy. Gnawed gnawed tiff gnawed gnawed tiff what kind of policies can congress set that help or hurt the company . Guest well, i think overall when you look at the big picture around the economy, we just continue to encourage lawmakers to come together and put this place policies that spur Economic Development. Because, you know, were a wonderful country. We were so resilient. Were so theres so much diversity. Were so entrepreneurial. And when you have more and more policies that are friendly for Economic Development, everybody everybodys boat rises as the tide goes up. We want to make sure that, for example, from a tax reform standpoint that theres tax reform so that we can encourage even more investment here in the u. S. And as we work with the regulators, we want to be part of the process we want to be part of the conversation. We want to be helpful. But that predictability of regulation, i think would really help out our industry and the economy. Host mark fields is president and ceo of the ford motor company. Guest thanks. Host and now joining us on the communicators from las vegas is fcc commissioner michael orielly. Commissioner orielly, whats it like to come to the ces International Show as an fcc commissioner . Guest well, thank you. First of all i appreciate cspan having me here. I really enjoy that to answer your question, coming as an fcc commissioner, a challenging, daunting task pause it is quite a because it is quite a lot of information to gather. Its an opportunity to learn different innovation thats happening in the marketplace and how thatll impact my job at the fcc. Host so what kind of innovation would impact your job . I mean is it innovation that calls for regulation, etc. Guest well, its a number of different results. I look at the new television and think about what is that going to do for television standard, headphones things like that satellite products or different video products whats the impact on so many different items we have before us or items that may come before us, and then i get to learn a number of different products that may come to market at some point that might involve us in the future. So its an opportunity to learn. Host what did you tour while you were here . Guest a great deal. I saw televisions i saw headphones, i saw wearables, i saw an opportunity to see all kinds of eureka parts, small incubators, Small Companies where you dont know if theyre going to exist next year, they may be here, they may not. They may be one of the big demonstrations or may not exist at all. A really enjoyable tour all around. All kinds of different productions today, so its very impressive. Host are we in a tech boom, in your view . Guest i think were in an innovation boom. Technologys a broad term, but america is the leading creator of products and services and applications in the world and will be for a long while. Host commissioner orielly a little politics. Coming up in february its been announced that your commission will be holding the vote on Net Neutrality. Where are you on that right now, what are some of the discussions going on that you can tell us about . Guest well, in fairness, i dont know exactly what the item may look like, so its to be determined. I wont see that until the chairman announced at the show today, i wont see that until february 5th so i dont have any particulars exactly what were talking about at this moment. In this broad discussion of the debate, i have are concerns about where we might go as a commission and what may impact occupant demonstrators here all the demonstrators here going forward. Host did you get lobbied quite a bit by different people on different sides of that issue . Guest in fairness, not as much. Theres been quite a bit of comments filed at the fcc weve had over four million, and a number of participants have lobbied as well. I think today was more of an opportunity to learn. Host you have just been appointed to your full term congratulations. Guest thank you. Host youre the newest member of the commission. Um is it political between the fife of you . There was a recent article in politico about the politics of the fcc commission. Guest so i would say i get along very well with my fellow commissioners. There have been a number of items recently that have broken down along party lines, and that i find to be discouraging. I think there are opportunities where we could have found better accommodations, but for whatever reason, the process didnt allow that. We just went through a tough part where a couple items were delegated to the bureaus to make decisions rather than the commissioners, and that doesnt give me an opportunity to vote and im willing to vote in a specified time. The decisions were made not to let that has been, so thats problematic from my perspective. I know there are a number of people that are looking at fcc process reform including some of my former employers on capitol hill. I would say generally most issues are not partisan and thats a good thing. We have an opportunity to Work Together on so many different fronts, but there are some issues that have broken down along party lines different philosophies and approaches. The more difficult part is when process becomes an issue. Host and finally, commissioner orielly, weve talked so only of to some of the folks out here involved in a couple of potential mergers. Can you give us any kind of a timeline, thought process on both comcast time warner and at t directv . Guest i never comment about mergers. I just keep it completely and at some point, i dont have any information to actually review at the current time. The merger task forces, or theres one task force looking at both theyll present information to me and ill be able to review it. So i dont have anything to comment specifically, and i decline to comment about mergers until a decision is made. Host well, commissioner orielly, we look forward to having you back in our studio but thanks for a few minutes. Guest thank you so much for your time, and i look forward to joining you as well. Host and the communicators is on location in las vegas for the annual ces International Consumer technology show. Largest trade show in the world. If youre interested in seeing more of our programming, you can go to cspan. Org communicators. Youre watching booktv on cspan2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. Booktv television for serious readers. Heres a look at some books that are being published this week look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on booktv and on booktv. Org. Booktv recently visited wheeling, west virginia, with the help of our local cable partner, comcast. We start our trip with jeff rutherford. His book, combat and genocide on the eastern front, examines combat and occupation policies of the german army during world war ii. Were with jeff rutherford, author of combat and genocide on the eastern front. Jeff, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Whyd you decide to write this book . Well ive always been interested in the second world war, and to my mind, it was the war between nazi germany and the soviet union so i went to look for my dissertation topic, i knew i wanted to do something on that conflict. I was also interested in the ideological structure that the nazis were waging against the soviet union. Hitlers dream was to create this racial [inaudible] in the east, and the german army was his primary means of creating in this empire. So i wanted to look at how thier or man army fought the war. Not just the military struggle but also the ideological struggle. Theres been a lot written, i think, about the military struggle, theres a lot written in german about the ideological struggle. What i wanted to do was kind of combine these two narratives and come up with one overarching view of the war. So i focused on three Infantry Divisions that i believe have been kind of understudied. Theres been a lot of work on elite german divisions pan certificate divisions or ss divisions. What i wanted to look at were three divisions made up of quoteunquote, regular german men who had been conscripted went to serve on eastern front. Also i wanted to look at the leningrad region. Theres been a fair amount written about the siege of leningrad its but not a lot about the german operations in the area so i kind of wanted to the add to the literature thats developed about the war, most of which focuses on east oarchtd the center of the front with moscow or the southern section. Hitlers goal was to create this racial empire an empire which the germans could economically exploit so that they could continue the war with successfully against the anglosaxon sea powers. The idea was that the main goal that germans wanted to get was food. They were very interested in feeding their home front. This goes back to the First World War where germany is blockaded, and in 1918 we see that german home front breaks. This is primarily due to the german state being unable to feed its population. So hitler and his Leadership Circle are consequenced if they can grasp convinced if they can feed the german home front feed the german army thats invading this invading the soviet union then there will always be enough food at home, the german people will stay united behind the war, and the german reich will continue to expand. So the majority of this is to grab as much food as possible. Theres also Natural Resources such as oil and other resources needed for arming the production that the germans were looking to grab. So the idea is that the soviet union is to be in india. As india is to great britain, so ukraine was to be to germany. When the germans think about this food that theyre going to have to get, this means that there are people in the soviet union who arent going to be able to eat, and this is fine with the jr. Mans because based with the germans because based on this hierarchy hitler has constructed, groups like the slaves are much lower. From the nazi perspective, they dont deserve this food, they are to die. And the other aspect of this ideological war is against bolshevism. Bolshevism is the mortal enemy to western europe to western civilization. Hitler and many other nazis also conflate bog she vix with jews. Bolshevism is a conspiracy launches by jews to destroy the west so for hitler, were not only getting rid of bolshevism but were getting rid of world jews as well. So this desire to eliminate bolshevism, this leads to an ideological war that is perhaps the most savage that has been waged in european history. What were the germans approach to how they waged their war . Well, so here we have that die cot tmy right . On the one hand we have the military struggle, and what the jr. Mans had hoped to do was to conquer through a quick blitz campaign. This is actually the First Campaign the germans actually planned as a blitzkrieg. We see elements in poland france, greece and yugoslavia. The war in the soviet union was planned as a blitzkrieg. What i mean by that is quick moving units in this case that would drive deep in the soviet union, circle large numbers of soviet troops and then press on. Now, the group that i looked at Army Group North we dont see that same kind of blitz campaign. This is primarily due to the fact that Army Group North only has one panser group. It also has to do with the terrain of that area. Kind of a swampy forested area not really conducive to armor. So Army Group Norths advance becomes one of infantry, slogging ahead existence the soviet t concern against the soviet forces. But we also see the flipside the ideological war. We have one of the orders that is issued to the german army is the commissar order, and it basically stays all commissars are to be immediately separated from other red Army Prisoners and either delivered to ss units to be shot or to be shot on the authority of the officer at the front. So here we see that ideological war. Theres really nothing similar to this in war that the germans fought against the french, the british or later the americans. We also see this ideological war, i think emerge when we look at food policy and what the jr. Mans do is germans do is in this attempt to insure that their troops are fed and that, you know the home front doesnt have to send a lot of rations to the front theyre told to live off the land. Basically, go find the food where it is. About two to three weeks into the advance, one of the divisions that i look at the 123rd Infantry Division, is ordered by its superior corps command to find your sustenance wherever you can. Its already a few weeks in theyre being told wherever you can find it, go find it. And in the soviet union during the 1940s food is a zero sum game right . Where are they going to get it . Theyre only going to get it from the peasantry. If peasantry loses their last cow, their last goat, their seed to plant next year, theyre going to starve. So already we see conditions for this type of starvation that is going to set in in the winter, 4142 has already [inaudible] why didnt they take a different approach to the soviets that they did to other nations . Well, i think this is where that whole hierarchy comes into play. For the germans or at least the nazi leadership, this approach to war based on race they look at the west and they look at, say, denmark they view them as racially similar to the germans right . They deserve a better treatment. And for the french right, they dont see them quite as high on that rawcial hierarchy as the germans, but nonetheless theres a civilization there. As they turn east and look at the slavics races, these are groups that similarly do not simply do not compare. They dont deserve what they have. So this gives the war a brutality that we dont see in the east. And in the fact that the soviet union is ruled by commune communists. I think this has a huge role. Many within the german army itself while perhaps not being fullfledged communists or, excuse me, fullfledged nazis would still see communism is as a real net and threat so all this makes the war a particularly savage affair. How does this affect both the general population and how did it affect the soviets, how the soviets looked at germany . Well, its interesting i think, as at least what i looked at as they advance, they go through the Baltic States and these people have just been forcibly incorporated into the soviet union in 1939, 1940 as a result of the hitler as a result of the molotov pact. So they greet the germans as liberators. Theyre excited that theyre going to get rid of the communists. As the germans push deeper into out of the Baltic States and into russia proper on their way up towards leningrad, there are some russians who greet them in a welcoming manner right . The jr. Mans are opening up the germans are opening up the soviets see them as allowing them to practice their religion again. You know theres many people in the soviet union who were certainly not thrilled with stalins policies in the 1930s. But as the year advances, we see that this initial support of the germans dissipates. And this is most noteworthy in the town of paf losing which is one of the smaller, its a small city, large town that sits outside of leningrad. This town was occupied by one of the divisions i looked at the 121st Infantry Division. And they settle on the siege line of leningrad. Leningrad is besieged by the germans for some 900 days beginning in september of 1941 and continues towards 1944. When the 12 21st moves into paf losing, we see all these policies trying to come together. One of the first things that happens is the towns Jewish Population is murdered. But the documents i looked at, its not clear who did the murdering. But it is clear that ss units attached to Army Group North were in the town, so i think its fair to say theyre the ones who carried out the murder. Now, of course, the german army is theoretically in control control of the town, so this happens on the armys watch. Its also clear that the ss and the army had a very close relationship, that they worked together to secure the town against any resistance. We see in this later on in the year where, you know, ten people are executed for cutting communication cables. Once this execution is carried out by the ss, then again we see the same pattern the same type of ec cushion carried out for the execution carried out for the same reasons by the army, so its clear they worked together. The biggest issue, however, is food. What happens is as the germans move in they immediately confiscate all the food in warehouses. Russian sources speak of the germans going house to house gathering up the food as well. So what we see is this incredible starvation sets in in the city. And this is what people have read about leningrad. They suffer somewhere in the neighborhood of 800,000 to one Million People who die primarily from starvation. But in all these cities and towns that are in the german siege line, we see the same thing. So pavlovsk which was home to about 15,000 people when the germans got in there in late september, by the end of the war it was down to 6000 with the majority of these people dying during the first winter. Just incredible scenes of desperation and misery come through. Whats interesting is that the highest levels of the german army, they see this as a necessity. And this gets at one of the main themes in my book the idea of military necessity. That the german army was willing to do whatever it needed to win the war. The majority of civilians are treated in kind of a callous manner. Not targeted, but certainly not assisted. And i think we see this in pavlovsk as this starvation just rips through the town, starvation and disease and we see that german field commands at the Division Level and core level are rating up the hierarchy up to the army level and then back to berlin asking what are we supposed to do . One corps talks about we push in the city, we have about 50,000 people who are going to starve. What are we going to do . And they are instructed by berlin to let them starve. Basically, its better if russians starve as opposed to germans. So there is this idea within the jr. Man high command that its okay divisions complain about this is intolerable for our men to see women and children starving its intolerable for their morale, this is a problem. And many men in the letters and diaries that i read would write about, you know, their efforts to give a little bit of food to russians especially children and women. One soviet report said that german troops are especially kindhearted or soft towards women and children because they have wives and kids at home. So while the high command is okay with this mass starvation because they believe that this food has to go to the germans to keep the army ready to fight this war, for many of the men on the ground, this was a problem and they would try to help out. Though whether or not they ever connected the fact that their occupation policies as a whole were causing this is open to, for debate. You mentioned that some were pleased at first when the germans showed up because they felt they were there to liberate them. As the starvation set in, did the animosity that the germans were there start to grow . Yeah. Yes. What we see is this growth of resistance to german rule. And this resistance had started immediately after the german invasion. The germans certainly talked about it a lot in their documents that i looked at though its actually hard to find any concrete cases of it. This appears to be something of this mentality that they bought into the war theyre expecting fullfledged resistance, so they talk about it even when they dont get it. But resistance duds certainly pick up as we get through 1941 and into 42 and it becomes a bigger problem as they go on and on during the war because of their policies. So i think, i think perhaps one way of looking at at this, you know i talk about this first period of the war this idea of military necessity they dont have to treat anyone in a conciliatory or kind manner because theyre going to win the war quickly and its going to be over. We see at this periodization ends in december 41 with a soviet counterattack. And this leads to what i think is the Second Period of war the winter crisis. The winter crisis is when we have this major soviet counterattack in front of moscow which pushes the German Forces some 200 kilometers back and it also affects Army Group North. During the winter crisis, one of the divisions i looked at, the 123rd Infantry Division, is surrounded in what becomes known as the [inaudible] pocket. Theres about 100,000 german soldiers there surrounded in this pocket. And what we see during this period of the soviet counterattack, this period of crisis, is that the german army believes that its now fighting this existential war right . If it does not winker it is all going to just be crushed here win, it is all going to be crushed. So it starts to wage a very different war than what we saw in the period of the advance. Now the war becomes one in which everyone is a legitimate target. So civilians now are seen as being especially problematic because maybe theyre working with the soviet army which is not putting which is now putting a lot of pressure on this exhausted weakened force, or the germans realize were going to have to use these soviet civilians to work for us. So they now become target by the germans. Obviously, this is going to lead in an uptick of resistance as german policies become much more violent, much more savage towards the soviet people. But from what i can tell, my interpretation is that this change in behavior was based on how the germans appreciated the warring right . Now they today to fear civilians because of this red army counteroffensive. It looked like the german army was going to simply disintegrate, that everything becomes a battle, right . The whole area around them is now a combat area and everyone is treated as such. The germans master this crisis. They survive this winter crisis partly because the soviets arent well enough equipped to organize train or led to completely destroy the germans. So what we get in the soviet union is a light period as the winter snow and everything just stops. Neither side can move. And during this winter or in this fall period, the german high command realizes that what has happened is that the german army is no longer Strong Enough to defeat the soviet urine onin one massive soviet union in one massive campaign. So they shift to the stalingrad campaign. What we see in the north where im looking at is theyre told [inaudible] and what we see is the battlefield in the knot now becomes very similar to what we had in the First World War on the western front; trenches position warfare attrition warfare. Theres no great tank battles up here like we see in the south. So the german army has to dig in and defend the positions that its won. This leads to yet, i think, the third period of war. So weve gone from this kind of ignoring the civilians in 41 and the germans think theyre going to win to this crisis period where all civilians are targeted. Now as we get from mid 42 up through mid 43, i think the germans start to feel that the only way they can win this war against an enemy that has a far larger company, far more resources it can draw upon is if it starts to mobilize the population behind the german lines. We have term soviet population to work for us. So all three divisions become much more conciliatory in their actions towards soviet civilians. Theres this concerted effort to draw them into the war effort. And i think the most striking example is with the experiences of the 12 3rd Infantry Division in the dam januariesing pocket. The only way theyre getting supplies is from air drops which isnt the most theyre not getting nearly enough what they need. Theyre surrounded by superior red army forces. These divisions that are stuck in here were all greatly weakened during the advance of 41 and then smacked around pretty well during the soviet counteroffensive. So theyre not strong, combatready divisions. What i found and what i found surprising was that instead of becoming more aggressive, more ideologically motivated and more likely to lash out at civilians these divisions maim became much more conciliatory. For example the 123rd Infantry Division ordered the medics and doctors within the division were to help soviet civilians who had illnesses. Most noteworthy they started supplying food to people in the pocket. This goes directly against what they did in 41, . Russians are supposed to starve so germans can live. Now this division has taken upon itself to feed people in the pocket. Now, clearly it does not do this for humanitarian reasons. It does it because it understands that people who are fed respect going to be as rebellious. Arent going to be as rebel