Peter Kenez is Emeritus Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of many books, including Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets: The Establishment of the Communist Regime in Hungary, 1944–1948 (Cambridge University Press, 2006), A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, 2nd edition (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and Red Attack, White Resistance (2005). He is a board member for the journal Revolutionary Russia.

• Introduction; Part I. Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism: 1. French Jews; 2. Jews of the Russian empire and of the Soviet Union; 3. Hungarian Jews; Part II. The National Socialists Take Control of the German State Machinery: 4. National socialism and Jews; 5. Propaganda; 6. What to do with the Jews?; Part III. War: 7. Ghettos in Poland, 1939–41; 8. The Holocaust in the Soviet Union; 9. The Romanian Holocaust; 10. Germany, 1942; 11. The Holocaust in Western Europe; 12. The last island: Hungary; 13. Extermination camps; 14. Afterthoughts.

'The distinguished UC Santa Cruz historian Peter Kenez has taken on the daunting and complex task of explaining the origins of the 'Final Solution'. He does so with deep erudition, perfect moral balance, patient reasoning, and crystal-clear prose. The Coming of the Holocaust will surely become the standard introduction to this painful and important subject.' Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University