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St Hugh’s Alumnus publishes book to critical acclaim

Dr Daniel Lee (History, 2006) has received high praise for his new book entitled “The SS Officer’s Armchair”.

The book tells the story of the life of Dr Robert Griesinger from Stuttgart, an ordinary Nazi whose ambition propelled him to become part of the Nazi machinery of terror. It began with the surprise discovery of a stash of personal documents covered in swastikas sewn into its cushion. Daniel uncovers Griesinger’s unexpected ancestral roots, untold stories of SS life and family fragmentation, and as he delves deeper, discovers Griesinger’s responsibility as an active participant in Nazi crimes.

A historical detective story and a gripping account of one historian’s hunt for answers, The SS Officer’s Armchair provides an invaluable contribution to our understanding of Nazi Germany and a chilling reminder of how such regimes are made not by monsters, but by ordinary people.

Daniel is a historian of the Second World War and a specialist in the history of Jews in France and North Africa during the Holocaust. He is a lecturer in modern history at Queen Mary, University London, and the author of Pétain’s Jewish Children (2014). As a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker, Lee is a regular broadcaster on radio. He lives in north London.

Daniel was an undergraduate at Sussex in History and French and completed an M.St and a DPhil in History at St Hugh’s. After completing his doctorate, Lee held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Brasenose College. He has held fellowships at the European University Institute (Max Weber Fellow), Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Before moving to Queen Mary in September 2019 he was a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow in History at the University of Sheffield.

“The SS Officer’s Armchair” will be available in St Hugh’s Library within the next few days.

To view the book reviews please click on the publications listed below:

The Guardian

Standard

The Times