Author: KEELING, RALPH FRANKLIN
Title: Gruesome Harvest. The Allied Attempt to Exterminate Germany After 1945
Description: Ostara Publications, 2019. Print on demand. Original decorated wrappers. ISBN: 1366777530. Ostara Publishing—less a conventional publisher and more a deliberate ideological platform—presents a troubling case study in how historical narratives can be manipulated for political and social ends. While its catalogue claims to offer “forgotten classics” and “lost histories, ” a closer examination reveals a pattern of selective curation that privileges far-right, ethnonationalist, and white supremacist views. The company’s output, which includes reprints of obscure, out-of-copyright texts, revisionist histories, and racially-charged polemics, reflects a clear agenda: to recast history in service of pseudoscientific racial theories and nationalist myth-making. One of the chief criticisms that can be levelled at Ostara Publishing is its lack of editorial integrity and scholarly rigour. Unlike reputable academic or heritage presses—which subject their titles to stringent peer review, contextual commentary, and clear distinctions between primary sources and interpretive material—Ostara typically republishes texts as though their outdated, discredited views on race and history retain unchallenged credibility. Such works are presented with minimal critical apparatus, if any. In so doing, Ostara effectively repackages century-old racist tracts and narratives as if they were simply overlooked curiosities, obscuring the fact that many of these “forgotten” histories were repudiated by serious scholars decades ago. The absence of critical frameworks is no accident. Ostara’s mission is not to illuminate historical complexity or enrich the understanding of the past but to channel particular ideological convictions. The publisher’s offerings often rely heavily on romanticised notions of “racial purity, ” Eurocentric chauvinism, and the demonisation or erasure of non-European peoples and cultures. Readers seeking a balanced perspective will find little in the way of scholarly debate, nuanced argumentation, or engagement with modern historiography. Instead, Ostara’s catalogue repeatedly falls back on simplistic binaries and monolithic stereotypes. Another problematic dimension is the aura of legitimacy that the press tries to cultivate. By adopting the trappings of a specialist publisher (tasteful if conventional cover designs, marketing language that emphasises “heritage” or “authentic” voices) , Ostara attempts to mask the propaganda-like nature of its offerings. This veneer can mislead unwary readers into believing they are accessing sound historical material, when they are in fact consuming literature that has been roundly discredited by serious historians and social scientists. Ethical considerations are paramount as well. At a time when extremist ideologies continue to pose societal threats, republishing old racial tracts and pseudo-historical apologetics under a guise of scholarly rediscovery not only disseminates harmful content but also emboldens contemporary hate movements. Rather than reckoning with the violence and suffering historically linked to racist ideologies, these texts are reissued as “lost truths, ” implicitly validating bigoted worldviews and encouraging readers to embrace long-discarded myths. In summary, Ostara Publishing stands as an object lesson in how the past can be distorted and weaponised. Its catalogue is not an earnest attempt to shed light on hidden chapters of history; it is a platform for a selective, ideologically driven narrative that seeks to normalise discredited racial theories. For readers genuinely interested in historical understanding, cultural complexity, and rigorous scholarship, Ostara’s works offer little more than a return to intellectual dark ages. The publisher’s reputation thus justifiably suffers, as it contributes to the resurgence of harmful ideas that most responsible scholarship has long since relegated to the dustbin of history. ; Ralph Franklin Keeling’s Gruesome Harvest, published shortly after the end of the Second World War, is a stark and often disturbing account of the aftermath of Germany’s defeat, focusing particularly on the conditions imposed upon the civilian population by the Allied powers. While the book’s uncompromising exposure of civilian suffering invites serious reflection on the moral complexity of post-war retribution, it also raises critical questions about bias, proportionality, and historical context that complicate its legacy. On the one hand, Gruesome Harvest does force the reader to grapple with unpalatable realities. Its strength lies in confronting readers with the human cost of policies that extended beyond the battlefield, highlighting mass displacement, food shortages, and the physical and psychological toll inflicted on ordinary Germans. In the immediate post-war period—when many in the Allied countries still reeled from the traumas of the Holocaust and the blitzed cities—acknowledging German suffering was deeply unpopular and even taboo. Keeling’s willingness to show that the moral ledger of war did not close neatly with Germany’s surrender is admirable, insisting on recognition that Germany’s crimes, however heinous, did not preclude consideration of its civilians’ plight. Nonetheless, the book’s limitations are significant. Keeling’s tone can verge on the polemical, placing moral culpability for suffering squarely and somewhat simplistically on the shoulders of the Allied occupation authorities. While the Allies’ handling of post-war Germany was undeniably harsh, Keeling often relies on isolated examples and emotive language rather than sustained analysis. This approach can feel more like advocacy than balanced historical scholarship, creating the impression of an author determined to cast the Allies’ actions as systematically cruel rather than examining a complex web of policy decisions, desperate resource shortages, and the tremendous challenges of governing a defeated and morally devastated nation. Context is key here. Keeling’s account appears to rest on an underlying assumption of moral equivalence that feels strained. Any critical appraisal must situate Germany’s suffering in relation to the unimaginable scale of horror that Nazi Germany inflicted on Europe. While it is true that one atrocity does not excuse another, Gruesome Harvest at times seems to elide or downplay the broader historical backdrop, as though German suffering can be cleanly separated from the actions that led to the country’s downfall. A more nuanced analysis would have navigated these delicate moral waters, acknowledging that the Allies were operating under unprecedented conditions and that many of their punitive measures were responses—however flawed and ethically compromised—to a regime that had inflicted genocide and total war on multiple continents. Additionally, the work’s methodology and sourcing would benefit from greater transparency. Keeling often relies on anecdotal evidence and selected reports without sufficiently acknowledging the contested nature of post-war data or the variance in conditions among different zones of occupation. Readers are left uncertain as to how representative his examples are, or what counterarguments more mainstream historians might present. This lack of scholarly rigour, combined with the emotionally charged rhetoric, undermines the book’s utility as a dependable historical source. In subsequent decades, more thorough research and balanced scholarship have presented a clearer picture of the Allied occupation, acknowledging both the undeniable suffering of German civilians and the contextual factors that shaped Allied policy. Compared to these later works, Gruesome Harvest comes across as an emotionally urgent, but somewhat myopic, contribution to the historical debate. Its chief value today may be in illustrating how contested and fraught the narrative of post-war Germany was in the immediate years following the conflict—and the difficulties of drawing moral lines amid the ashes of total war. In sum, Gruesome Harvest is a challenging, confronting text that compels us to confront the ambiguities of post-war justice. Yet it falls short as a balanced historical analysis. By leaning too heavily on outrage and insufficiently acknowledging the broader historical context, Keeling’s account risks tipping into special pleading rather than serving as a measured critique of Allied policy. It remains a valuable piece of the post-war discourse, but one that should be read critically, in conjunction with more even-handed and methodologically rigorous sources. ; Octavo; viii, 140 pages. As New .

Keywords: 1366777530 Nazism Extremism Fake Post


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