In Barbed Wire University, Dave Hannigan gives readers a view of life for a group of German Jewish artists and intellectuals who were interned by the British on the Isle of Man during World War II. The British, in a misguided attempt to keep their citizens safe from German aggression, imprisoned innocent men. Trying to make the best of their situation, the men turned Hutchinson Camp into a school, a concert hall, and an artistic community.

The author tried too hard to impart every bit of information on the readers and turned what could have been a compelling read into a dry tome. As a lover of history, I was certainly intrigued by this hidden, dirty secret of the British, but the book just did not keep my interest.

With more and more books being published on parts of World War II history that are not known to the masses, The Barbed-Wire University just does not measure up. For these reasons, I would not recommend the book to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this book of history entirely rests with me.

I had a hard time reading this one and had to DNF at around 35% in. Some of the stories were very informative, but I found myself bored with most. I think the writing reads more like a school textbook rather than a book.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me.

I really wanted to like this book but I found it boring. Although some of the the stories were interesting, the writing wasn't very engaging. I struggled to stay interested and ended up not finishing the book. There are so many WWII-era books out there that a book has to really be exceptional to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately this one didn't work for me.

4 stars. As a WW2 buff I found this book such an interesting (and very sad) part of history that isn't talked about enough. It was both enlightening and thought provoking.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Barbed Wire University was without a doubt a wondrous work about a select few people who chose to help amidst everyone being in a rather difficult situation.

“Barbed Wire University” is a fairly short historical account highlighting a small episode in the midst of World War II, but an episode traumatic for the many men held in custody by the British. When Hitler came to power in the early Thirties, the writing was on the wall and Jewish artists and intellectuals from a Berlin and Vienna and elsewhere in Germany and Austria began fleeing to Britain, some as late as Kristallnacht in 1938 when fleeing became near impossible and the veritable gates of Hell opened. Thousands of these families fleeing discrimination settled in Britain, teaching at Oxford, becoming part of the British community, believing they had found salvation.

Yet, once the War started, they suddenly became untrusted alien residents and were suspected of possibly being a traitorous Fifth Column of Germans paving the way for the Nazis. Just as Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to internment camps, these men who had actually fled from Nazi rule, were rounded up and put in camps. (Such camps were not solely a wartime thing for the Brits. Later, after the war ended, the British would then place Jews who survived the Nazi death camps in internment camps in Cyprus to prevent their emigration to their own land.)

The camps were these refugees were on the Island of Man in the Irish Sea, and thus story is about one such camp, Camp Hutchinson, where it so happened that the internees included artists, playwrights, professors, circus performers, and musicians. Behind the barbed wire which restricted their freedom, the men in the camp commenced an impromptu “university” with many of Central Europe’s intellectuals lecturing to each other. Based on eyewitness accounts, this book takes us through the stories of several of the men interned there, revealing what they had left behind in fleeing Germany and what they did with their time in the camp, while desperate for news of the war’s progress and separated from their families.

Hutchinson Camp was an internment camp located on the Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea. German, Austrian, and Polish Jews fleeing from Hitler landed in Britain thinking they would be safe. But, fear ruled the day and in 1940 Churchill opened internment camps for the same Jews who were fleeing their common enemy, as well as some who had been there decades. Each Jew was classified in terms of the danger they presented to Britain. 1000 Jews, mostly intellectuals, musicians and artists were shipped off to Hutchinson Camp, 80 miles from Liverpool and in the middle of the Irish Sea. Under the watchful eyes of armed guards, some of these "dangerous" men would go on to create a school where they could learn, create and practice their craft among themselves to fight of depression and pass the time. What they created would be later referred to as Barber Wire University.

I enjoy history and am well-versed in WWII from the numerous books I've read as well as documentaries I've seen. Or so I thought. Quite honestly I was shocked to learn about British interment camps. By the end of Barbed Wire University I was shocked for a completely different reason. What a remarkable story of hope and perseverance. It is another example of great things coming out of the worst situations. I'm grateful to have learned of these amazing men.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield for the privilege of reviewing an advanced copy of Barbed Wire University.

For me, as a reader, this book falls into the category of "things you never knew or imagined, but needed to know."
It's always a challenge to be aware of how history unfolded in countries other than your own, so this book was a great help in illuminating what internment looked like in Britain during WW2. In fact, I had no idea that there was such an internment and certainly not a camp of this kind full of primarily Jewish intellectuals and artists. Hannigan introduces us to the men who were interred there and each chapter is a biography on its own.

Fascinating read for anyone interested in Jewish history or war history.

What a thrill and privilege to have access to such brilliant topics and authors such as this! In 1940, Jewish Germans and Austrians fled Nazi occupation to go to Britain. The approximately 70,000 Jews made Brits nervous and news media certainly didn't help. They were classified as security threats, including many on Britain's side. About 1,000 men were interred in Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man. Barbed Wire University is about this incredible group of men, many of whom were intellectuals. What a range of genius minds including engineers, a chemophysicist, musicians, photographers, historians, mathematicians, economists, a textile designer, readers and writers. Imagine the exchange of ideas!

Though there were various boards and directors, a canteen, lectures, classes, music and art exhibitions, one thing was missing. True freedom. Guards did allow those who wished to leave to swim and walk outside the wire but some chose not to as there were still guards and batons. Some suffered from depression as the length of interment was unknown. Many used their time to teach and learn. One did not even apply for release as he enjoyed being amongst such a group!

So many fascinating stories but some which stand out in particular are the window art, daffodil bulbs, camp paper and the surreal array of lecture topics.

Do read this astonishing book if you are at all interested in history, especially WWII, and learning more about lesser-known stories. It intrigued me so much I immediately researched everything I could about this unparalleled "university".

My sincere thank you to Rowman & Littlefield and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this extraordinary book!

This book provides a different take on the Holocaust than I've encountered before. I never knew that World War II England had internment camps for German, Austrian, and Eastern European citizens, many of them Jewish intellectuals who escaped Nazi persecution. On the Isle of Man, in Hutchinson Internment Camp, lived a "who's who" of artists, writers, musicians, professors, linguists, archeologists, playwrights, humanists, philosophers, and many others. Some were interned briefly, some for a long while, and few were happy about losing their freedom. However, many in the all-male camp made the best of things by engaging in myriad learning opportunities, lectures, concerts, art exhibits, and theater. They created their own society, which was largely egalitarian, and they helped keep depression and uncertainty at bay by staying busy. Commander Daniel, the head of the camp, took pride in reaching out to the men and providing a library, education, a camp newspaper, social services, teaching and art supplies, and sports. This is well-researched nonfiction that introduces modern readers to some of the anti-Hitler intellectuals of that era. While I sometimes became confused by all the names, this was overall a satisfying read.

In 1940, Britain gave in to hysteria and fear, rounded up Germans who were in the country, assigned them a classification ranging from not a real threat to extreme threat, and put them into internment camps - just as the US would do with Japanese-Americans later. They did this even for those people who had been in England for decades, and even if they a) posed no real threat and b) were contributing to the British war effort.

On the Isle of Man, that resulted in one of the most remarkable collections of intellectuals at the Hutchinson Camp. Writers, musicians, educators, artists, journalists - all were kept on the island, behind barbed wire.

The book details many of the more well-known internees, and how they made their way to England as Hitler's grip on Germany tightened. Often, those escapes were made under dangerous circumstances and many came after a first meeting with the Gestapo, to ensure there wouldn't be a second.

We get to see the day to day lives of those locked up for no good reason, and the lengths some would go to keep creating their art behind the wire. To keep themselves busy, they also began what could only be called one of the best universities in the world: the experts among them gave talks on their particular expertise, and demand for something - anything - to do was so great, they would often give the same lecture multiple times to meet demand.

The end of the book highlights some of the internees, where they landed once released, and how they went about the remainder of their lives.

The narrative is compelling while not being overly stuffy, and the book is impeccably researched. It's an excellent addition to WWII history, and a history not told nearly enough.

Five out of five stars.

Thanks to Rowman and Littlefield, Lyons Press, and NetGalley for the reading copy.

The Hutchinson Internment Camp was located on the Isle of Man, 80 miles from Liverpool and was called the artist's camp or later, barbed wire university. This was because so many of the German, Austrian and Jewish refugees who were sent there after war was declared were artists and refugee professors from Oxford or Cambridge, Nearly 1,000 men arrived on July 13, 1940 in the first intake and there were just 33 houses meant to be bed and breakfast and holiday boarding houses. At the start there was mild hysteria in Great Britain pitched by journalist Ward Price of the Daily News and others in the media and the government against fifth columns, like in America. All foreigners over the age of 16 were compelled to attend tribunals and assigned a classification letter. Initially only a's and some b's were arrested but then c's were taken away too. Author Dave Hannigan introduces readers to these men, many of whom had hair raising escapes from the Nazi regime. For many men the music, art, and lectures on all sorts of subjects from their fellow internees, kept their spirits up, although many suffered from depression and there were suicides. I was able to keep track of who was who and Hannigan leaves room at the end to tell of their post Hutchinson lives. Several wrote memoirs and novels that I now want to find. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.