Giles MacDonogh (born 1955) is a British writer, historian and translator.

Life

MacDonogh has worked as a journalist, most notably for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' (1988–2003), where he covered food, drink and a variety of other subjects. He has also contributed to most of the other important British newspapers, and is a regular contributor to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. As an historian, MacDonogh concentrates on central Europe, principally Germany. He was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he read modern history. He later carried out historical research at the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

in Paris. MacDonogh is the author of fourteen books, chiefly about

German history The Germani tribes i.e. Germanic tribes are now considered to be related to the Jastorf culture before expanding and interacting with the other peoples. The concept of a region for Germanic tribes is traced to time of Julius Caesar, a Roman gen ...

; he has also written about gastronomy and wine. In 1988 he won a Glenfiddich Special Award for his first book, ''A Palate in Revolution'' (Robin Clark) and was shortlisted for the André Simon Award. His books have been translated into French, Italian, Bulgarian, German, Chinese, Slovakian, Spanish, Russian and Polish. Reviewing ''1938: Hitler’s Gamble'' in ''

Spectator Magazine ''Spectator Magazine'' was an American weekly newsmagazine published and distributed in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1978 until October 2005. ''The magazine'' had its historical roots in the ‘60s underground weekly, ''The Berkeley Barb' ...

'', Graham Stewart said: "Giles MacDonogh has repeatedly shown himself to be in the front rank of British scholars of German history. The depth of his human understanding, the judiciousness of his pickings from source material and the quality of his writing make this book at once gripping and grave." MacDonogh criticised the 2004 German film Downfall for sympathetic portrayals of

Wilhelm Mohnke Wilhelm Mohnke (15 March 1911 – 6 August 2001) was one of the original members of the SS-Staff Guard (''Stabswache'') "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. He joi ...

and

Ernst-Günther Schenck Ernst-Günther Schenck (3 October 1904 – 21 December 1998) was a German medical doctor and member of the SS in Nazi Germany. Because of a chance encounter with Adolf Hitler during the closing days of World War II, his memoirs proved historicall ...

. Mohnke was rumoured, but never proven, to have ordered the execution of a group of British

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

in the

Wormhoudt massacre The Wormhoudt massacre (or Wormhout massacre) was the mass murder of 81 British and French POWs by Waffen-SS soldiers from the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the Battle of France in May 1940. Fighting As part of the Brit ...

near

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

prisoners. In response, the film's director stated he did his own research and did not find the allegations as to Schenck convincing. Mohnke strongly denied the accusations against him, telling historian Thomas Fischer, "I issued no orders not to take English prisoners or to execute prisoners."Fischer, Thomas. ''Soldiers of the Leibstandarte'',

J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing is a Canadian publishing house that specialises in literature on the German armed forces of the World War II era. Its authors are both popular history writers such as Paul Carell and Franz Kurowski, along with the war-t ...

, Inc. 2008, p 26. His latest book is ''The Great Battles'' (2010).

Bibliography

Works

* ''A Palate in Revolution'', Robin Clark (1987), * ''A Good German: Adam von Trott zu Solz'', Quartet (1989), * ''Brillat-Savarin: The Judge and His Stomach'', John Murray (1992), * ''Syrah, Grenach and Mourvèdre'', Viking (1992), * ''The Wine and Food of Austria'', Mitchell-Beazley (1992), * ''Prussia: The Perversion of an Idea'',

Sinclair-Stevenson Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd is a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson. Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton in 1961. Thirteen years later in 1974 he became managing director, establishing ...

(1994) * ''Berlin'', Sinclair-Stevenson (1997), * ''Austria: New Wines from the Old World'', Agrar Verlag (1997), * ''Frederick the Great'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1999), * ''The Last Kaiser: William the Impetuous'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson (2000), * ''Portuguese Table Wines'', Grub Street (2001), * ''After the Reich: From the Liberation of Vienna to the Berlin Airlift'', John Murray (2007), * ''After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation'', Basic Books, (2007), * ''1938 Hitler's Gamble'', Constable (2009), * ''The Great Battles'', Quercus (2010),

Translations

Henrik Eberle Henrik Eberle (born 3 May 1970) is a German historian. During the first decade of the twenty-first century he came to prominence beyond the confines of the German academic community with compilations, books, articles and interviews concerned wi ...

and Matthias Uhl, ''The Hitler Book'' John Murray 2005 * Melissa Müller and Reinhard Piechocki, ''A Garden of Eden in Hell'' Macmillan 2007 * Karl Mayer ''et al.'', ''Wein/Wine Genesis'' Kulinarium Verlag 2009 * Blandine Vié, ''Testicles'' Prospect Books 2011

References

External links

www.macdonogh.co.uk
* MP3 Interview with Giles MacDonogh on After the Reic

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonogh, Giles Living people 1955 births British male journalists British historians People educated at the City of London School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford