Out of the darkness : the Germans, 1942-2022
A gripping and nuanced history of the German people from the Second World War to the present day, including hugely revealing new primary source material on every aspect of its transformation. In 1945, Germany lay ruined. Its citizens stood condemned by history, responsible for a horrifying genocide and war of extermination. But by the end of Angela Merkel's tenure in 2021, Germany looked like the moral voice of Europe, welcoming over one million refugees, holding together the tenuous threads of the European Union, and making military restraint the center of its foreign policy. At the same time, its rigid fiscal discipline and energy deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin have cast a shadow over the present. Innumerable scholars have asked how Germany could have degenerated from a nation of scientists, poets, and philosophers into one responsible for genocide. And yet, until now, a similarly vital question has been ignored. That is, how did a nation whose past has been marked by mass murder, a people who cheered Adolf Hitler, reinvent themselves? Trentmann tells this dramatic story from the middle of the Second World War, through the Cold War and the division of East and West, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's struggle to find its place in the world today. This journey includes a series of internal, moral conflicts: admissions of guilt and shame vying with immediate economic concerns, restitution for some but not others, tolerance versus racism, compassion versus complicity. Through a range of voices-German soldiers and German Jews; displaced persons in limbo; East German women and shopkeepers angry about energy shortages; opponents and supporters of nuclear power; volunteers helping migrants and refugees, and right-wing populists attacking them-Trentmann paints a remarkable and surprising portrait of the German people over eighty years, showing how they became who they are today.
Available Copies by Location
Location | |
---|---|
Stamford | Available |
Browse Related Items
- ISBN: 9780771070785 (hardcover)
-
Physical Description
print
xvii, 784 pages : maps, illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm - Edition Canadian hardcover edition.
- Publisher 2024
- Copyright ©2023.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Additional Information
LDR | 03085cam a2200337 i 4500 | ||
---|---|---|---|
001 | 267147 | ||
003 | NFPL | ||
005 | 20240212100926.0 | ||
008 | 230727r20242023oncab e b 001 0deng d | ||
020 | . | ‡a9780771070785 (hardcover) | |
035 | . | ‡a(OAUW)549660 | |
040 | . | ‡aStDuBDS ‡beng ‡cStDuBDS ‡dCaOAUW ‡erda | |
082 | 0 | 4. | ‡a943.08 ‡223 |
100 | 1 | . | ‡aTrentmann, Frank. |
245 | 1 | 0. | ‡aOut of the darkness : ‡bthe Germans, 1942-2022 / ‡cFrank Trentmann. |
246 | 3 | 0. | ‡aGermans, 1942-2022 |
250 | . | ‡aCanadian hardcover edition. | |
260 | . | ‡a ‡b ‡c2024 | |
264 | 1. | ‡aToronto : ‡bSignal, ‡c2024. | |
264 | 4. | ‡c©2023. | |
300 | . | ‡axvii, 784 pages : ‡bmaps, illustrations (some color) ; ‡c25 cm | |
336 | . | ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent | |
337 | . | ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia | |
338 | . | ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier | |
504 | . | ‡aIncludes bibliographical references and index. | |
520 | . | ‡a"A gripping and nuanced history of the German people from the Second World War to the present day, including hugely revealing new primary source material on every aspect of its transformation. In 1945, Germany lay ruined. Its citizens stood condemned by history, responsible for a horrifying genocide and war of extermination. But by the end of Angela Merkel's tenure in 2021, Germany looked like the moral voice of Europe, welcoming over one million refugees, holding together the tenuous threads of the European Union, and making military restraint the center of its foreign policy. At the same time, its rigid fiscal discipline and energy deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin have cast a shadow over the present. Innumerable scholars have asked how Germany could have degenerated from a nation of scientists, poets, and philosophers into one responsible for genocide. And yet, until now, a similarly vital question has been ignored. That is, how did a nation whose past has been marked by mass murder, a people who cheered Adolf Hitler, reinvent themselves? Trentmann tells this dramatic story from the middle of the Second World War, through the Cold War and the division of East and West, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's struggle to find its place in the world today. This journey includes a series of internal, moral conflicts: admissions of guilt and shame vying with immediate economic concerns, restitution for some but not others, tolerance versus racism, compassion versus complicity. Through a range of voices-German soldiers and German Jews; displaced persons in limbo; East German women and shopkeepers angry about energy shortages; opponents and supporters of nuclear power; volunteers helping migrants and refugees, and right-wing populists attacking them-Trentmann paints a remarkable and surprising portrait of the German people over eighty years, showing how they became who they are today."-- ‡cProvided by publisher. | |
650 | 0. | ‡aGroup identity ‡zGermany. | |
650 | 0. | ‡aNational characteristics, German. | |
650 | 0. | ‡aCollective memory ‡zGermany. | |
651 | 0. | ‡aGermany ‡xHistory ‡y1945- | |
651 | 0. | ‡aGermany (East) ‡xHistory. | |
852 | . | ‡aONF ‡bVIC ‡cAdult ‡h943.08 Tre ‡k ‡m ‡p38080500517782 ‡sANF ‡tANF ‡x55.00 ‡zIn process | |
905 | . | ‡uteveraert | |
901 | . | ‡a267147 ‡bAUTOGEN ‡c267147 ‡tbiblio ‡sSystem Local |