Fulbrook, Mary 1951- (Mary Jean Alexandra Fulbrook)

PERSONAL:

Born November 28, 1951, in Cardiff, Wales; daughter of Arthur James Cochran (a professor of crystallography) and Harriett Charlotte (a criminologist) Wilson; married Julian George Holder Fulbrook (a lawyer), June 28, 1973; children: Conrad Arthur, Erica Harriett, Carl Howard. Education: Cambridge University, B.A., 1973, M.A., 1977; Harvard University, A.M., 1975, Ph.D., 1979. Politics: Labour.

ADDRESSES:

Office—University College London, Gower St., London WC1E 6BT, England.

CAREER:

Writer, historian, and educator. University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, England, lecturer in sociology, 1977-78; Brunel University, Uxbridge, England, lecturer, 1978-79; Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, research fellow, 1979-82; King's College London, research fellow 1982-83; University College London, London, England, lecturer in German history, 1983-91, reader in German history, 1991-95, director of Centre for European Studies, 1992—, professor of German history, 1995—. Member of board of governors of Great Ormond Street Hospital School for Sick Children (vice chairperson, 1979-84); mayor of London Borough of Camden, 1985-86; chair of governors, South Camden Community School, 1992—. Member of advisory boards, German Historical Institute London, Memorial Foundation for the former concentration camps of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora, and Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung.

MEMBER:

German History Society (member of executive committee, 1981—, chair, 1996-99), Association for the Study of German Politics, Royal Historical Society (fellow).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Krupp Fellowship, Harvard Center for European Studies; Lady Margaret Research Fellowship, New Hall, Cambridge University; British Academy grant, 1984, 1986; British Academy fellow.

WRITINGS:

Piety and Politics: Religion and the Rise of Absolutism in England, Wuerttemberg, and Prussia, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1983.

A Concise History of Germany, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1990, 2nd edition, 2004.

The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990, Fontana (London, England), 1991, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1992.

The Two Germanies, 1945-1990: Problems of Interpretation, Humanities Press International (Atlantic Highlands, NJ), 1992, 2nd edition published as Interpretation of the Two Germanies, 1945-1990, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor) National Histories and European History, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 1993.

Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-89, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.

(Coeditor) Citizenship, Nationality, and Migration in Europe, Routledge (New York, NY), 1996.

(Editor) German History since 1800, Arnold (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor, with Martin Swales) Representing the German Nation: History and Identity in Twentieth-century Germany, Manchester University Press (Manchester, England), 2000.

(Editor) Twentieth-century Germany: Politics, Culture, and Society, 1918-1990, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor) Europe since 1945 ("Short Oxford History of Europe" series), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Historical Theory, Routledge (New York, NY), 2002.

German National Identity after the Holocaust, Blackwell (New York, NY), 2002.

The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2005.

(Editor) Un-civilizing Processes? Excess and Transgression in German Society and Culture: Perspectives Debating with Norbert Elias, Rodopi (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to various scholarly journals. German History, joint editor and founder, 1984-94. Member of editorial board of German History and Zeithistorische Forschungen. Several of Fulbrook's works have been translated into Italian, Hungarian, and Spanish.

SIDELIGHTS:

The daughter of a refugee from Nazi Germany and a conscientious objector/pacifist from Canada, writer and historian Mary Fulbrook is intrigued by the complexities of German history. A professor of German history at University College London, she is a "much respected and widely published scholar of modern German and European history," commented Stephen McDonald in History: Review of New Books. Fulbrook studies and researches topics such as religion and society in early modern Europe, German dictatorships in the twentieth century, and historiography and social theory.

Fulbrook explores the government apparatus that existed in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the Communist regime's forty-year history in Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-89. Fulbrook bases her account on voluminous amounts of archival material that became available after the fall of the GDR, commonly known as East Germany. Her "main goal is to shed light on the nature of dictatorship in the GDR, but her analysis will be of interest to all those who explore the question of how seemingly stable and quiescent states can survive over long periods of time and then surprise with their sudden collapse," remarked Helga A. Welsh in American Political Science Review. The author shows how, "over time, much of the population came to adapt itself to the constricting but predictable conditions of the regime. They could not get out of the country, so most of them eventually opted for grudging compliance with the demands of rulers who never secured real consent and were in fact generally despised," stated Nevil Johnson in the English Historical Review. Fulbrook also notes instances of dissent within the GDR, and she documents the increasing pressure for change that came from within. In addition, she finds that increased contact with the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in the 1970s and 1980s had a destabilizing effect on the GDR, increasing the likelihood of its collapse. Still, the GDR existed through four decades of relative stability. Fulbrook asserts that this stability was achieved through more complex reasons than the application of Communist force or any cultural tendency of Germans toward obedience to authority. "Fulbrook's broadly interpretative approach demonstrates real sophistication in analyzing patterns of domination, complicity, and dissent over the four decades of the GDR's existence as a separate German state," remarked Melvin Croan in a Political Science Quarterly review. Welsh concluded, "Anatomy of a Dictatorship is a highly valuable book that contributes to a better understanding of the history of the GDR and that of other dictatorships."

Fulbrook addresses a controversial and sensitive topic in German National Identity after the Holocaust. As she "demonstrates in her stimulating study, defining German national identity after 1945 involves above all a confrontation with the recent past of the Nazi regime, and especially interpretation of the Holocaust," remarked Canadian Journal of History reviewer Eric G. Reiche. The author presents the results of her study of official German statements about the Holocaust, contrasting her findings with the attitudes reflected in diaries, oral histories, opinion polls, and other personalized sources. She analyzes the means by which national identity is created and changed, and she looks at how these processes are affected by such factors as history, public perceptions, the attitudes of new generations, and collective identity. "All three groups of intended readers—students, established scholars, and interested members of the public—should find this book rewarding, stimulating, and at times controversial reading. The overall analysis is persuasive, judicious, and marked by considerable empathy," Reiche stated.

The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker contains an in-depth assessment of East German culture and the living conditions of East German citizens during the years of Communist rule. "Based on recently opened archives, Fulbrook's work may be controversial in that she presents a balanced (some would say sympathetic) view of life in East Germany … during Soviet rule," commented James L. Martin in History: Review of New Books. Fulbrook's work "provides an excellent framework for further debate on the pros and cons of the first socialist experiment on German soil," noted Peter Hylarides, writing in Contemporary Review. Fulbrook does not find life in the GDR to be one of unrelenting misery; in fact, "she describes East Germans as frequently leading fulfilling, productive lives," Martin noted. She looks at several elements of life in the GDR, including job security, the nation's social structure, the manner by which citizens participated in the regime, and the goals of the government and its attitude toward the people. Fulbrook "has scrupulously perused numerous documents to offer a laudable volume," Martin stated.

Fulbrook is also the editor of several volumes of scholarly essays on German and European history.

Twentieth-century Germany: Politics, Culture, and Society, 1918-1990 includes a collection of "historiographical essays by outstanding scholars that address in clear, well-informed terms the principal interpretive issues involving the history of Germany from the end of World War I to the events of 1989-90," McDonald commented. The authors of the studies cover topics such as the history of Germany from 1918 to 1945; the forty-year period of Communist rule and the era of divided Germany from 1949 to 1989; the factors that brought down the GDR in 1989; and the methods by which the once-separate nation was reintegrated with West Germany.

Europe since 1945, part of the "Short Oxford History of Europe" series, looks at European history, politics, economics, and culture from the end of World War II to the turn of the millennium. The book examines such topics as the Cold War and globalization, and it includes tables, maps, chronologies, and a bibliography. The book's "overall approach is clear, the presentation of the material is generally consistent, the footnoting is light, and the chapters can be very profitably read as individual essays or as part of the series' broader project," remarked Ann Deighton in the English Historical Review.

Fulbrook once told CA: "Peculiarities can only be adequately comprehended by a wide-ranging, often expansive approach to social, political and cultural history."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, October, 1985, John Stoye, review of Piety and Politics: Religion and the Rise of Absolutism in England, Wuerttemberg, and Prussia, p. 921; December, 2006, Adelheid von Saldern, review of The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker, p. 1622.

American Political Science Review, December, 1996, Helga A. Welsh, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-89, p. 936.

Booklist, July, 2000, Donna Seaman, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 1998.

British Journal of Sociology, December, 1997, Anna Triandafyllidou, review of Citizenship, Nationality, and Migration in Europe, p. 703.

Canadian Journal of History, December, 1994, Philip Longworth, review of National Histories and European History, p. 602; December, 2000, Eric G. Reiche, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 573.

Central European History, spring, 1997, Konrad H. Jarausch, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 344.

Choice, March, 1993, G.P. Blum, review of The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990, p. 1216; May, 1996, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 1550; December, 1999, G.M. Kren, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 789; June, 2006, M. Deshmukh, review of The People's State, p. 1894.

Contemporary Review, August, 2004, review of A Concise History of Germany, p. 128; spring, 2007, Peter Hylarides, "East Germany under the Communists," review of The People's State, p. 102.

English Historical Review, September, 1996, Anne Orde, review of National Histories and European History, p. 1041; September, 1997, Nevil Johnson, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 1030; June, 1998, Panikos Panayi, review of Citizenship, Nationality, and Migration in Europe, p. 805; February, 2002, Anne Deighton, review of Europe since 1945, p. 237; September, 2006, David Childs, review of The People's State, p. 1154.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, July, 1995, Geoff Eley, review of National Histories and European History, p. 677.

European History Quarterly, April, 2000, Christopher Harvie, review of Citizenship, Nationality, and Migration in Europe, p. 271; October, 2000, Anthony Kauders, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 597.

Foreign Affairs, May-June, 1996, Robert Legvold, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 149.

German Studies Review, October, 2000, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 631.

Historian, summer, 1993, George F. Botjer, review of The Divided Nation, p. 739.

Historical Journal, December, 1993, D.L.L. Parry, review of National Histories and European History, p. 1003.

History: Review of New Books, winter, 1997, Diethelm Prowe, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 73; winter, 2002, Stephen McDonald, review of Twentieth-century Germany: Politics, Culture, and Society, 1918-1990, p. 63; winter, 2006, James I. Martin, Sr., review of The People's State, p. 51.

History: The Journal of the Historical Association, February, 1994, Oliver Bange, review of NationalHistories and European History, p. 153; January, 1998, Lorna Chessum, review of Citizenship, Nationality, and Migration in Europe, p. 103.

History Today, September, 1984, Patrick Collinson, review of Piety and Politics, p. 56; March, 1991, review of A Concise History of Germany, p. 50; April, 1997, review of German History since 1800, p. 58.

International Affairs, July, 1996, Klaus Larres, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 602.

International History Review, September, 2002, John Gillingham, review of Europe since 1945, p. 698.

Journal of Common Market Studies, March, 1994, Margaret Shennan, review of National Histories and European History, p. 110.

Journal of European Studies, March, 1994, Joachim Whaley, review of National Histories and European History, p. 85.

Journal of Military History, October, 2006, Antony Clayton, review of The People's State, p. 1189.

Library Journal, February 15, 1991, James B. Street, review of A Concise History of Germany, p. 207.

Modern Language Review, October, 1992, Arthur Williams, review of A Concise History of Germany, p. 1049; April, 2003, Osman Durrani, review of Representing the German Nation: History and Identity in Twentieth-century Germany, p. 522.

Political Quarterly, April-June, 1996, Joyce Crick, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 173; January-March, 2000, Joyce Crick, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 132.

Political Science Quarterly, summer, 1997, Melvin Croan, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 353.

Prairie Schooner, summer, 1997, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 353.

Queen's Quarterly, spring, 1994, review of The Divided Nation, p. 139.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 1998, review of German History since 1800, p. 20; May, 2001, review of Representing the German Nation, p. 37; August, 2007, review of Un-civilizing Processes? Excess and Transgression in German Society and Culture: Perspectives Debating with Norbert Elias.

Rethinking History, summer, 2002, Keith Jenkins, review of Historical Theory, p. 261; summer, 2003, Keith Jenkins, review of Historical Theory, p. 261.

Slavic Review, fall, 2007, Hope M. Harrison, review of The People's State, p. 515.

Slavonic and East European Review, January, 1995, Keith Robbins, review of National Histories and European History, p. 161.

Sociology, August, 2001, Zygmunt Bauman, review of Interpretation of the Two Germanies, 1945-1990, p. 787.

Times Educational Supplement, January 22, 1993, Sean Lang, review of The Two Germanies, 1945-1990: Problems of Interpretation, p. R16.

Times Higher Education Supplement, March 22, 1996, Jonathan Osmond, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 26.

Times Literary Supplement, May 22, 1992, Michael Burleigh, review of The Divided Nation, p. 33; November 26, 1993, William Wallace, review of National Histories and European History, p. 10; October 13, 1995, Timothy Garton Ash, review of Anatomy of a Dictatorship, p. 4; December 31, 1999, review of German National Identity after the Holocaust, p. 25.

West European Politics, October, 1994, Tolis Malakos, review of National Histories and European History, p. 209.

ONLINE

Humanities and Social Sciences Online,http://www.hnet.org/ (November, 2004), Heather Gumbert, review of Twentieth-century Germany; (September, 2005), Richard John Ascarate, review of A Concise History of Germany.

University College London Department of German Web site,http://www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/ (January 20, 2008), biography of Mary Fulbrook.