Berlin at War: Life and Death in Hitler's Capital, 1939-45 - Hardcover

Moorhouse, Roger

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224080717 ISBN 13: 9780224080712

Publisher: Bodley Head, 2010

Synopsis

* Berlin was the nerve-centre of Hitler's Germany. It was the backdrop for the most lavish of Nazi ceremonies, the venue for Albert Speer's grandiose plans to forge a new 'world metropolis', and the scene of the final climactic battle to defeat Nazism. Berlin was the stage upon which the rise and fall of the Third Reich was most visibly played out.

* Yet while our understanding of the Holocaust is well developed, we know little about the wider challenges posed to the German people by living under a dictatorship in wartime, the compromises demanded and the hardships endured. As a result our understanding of everyday life in Nazi Germany is profoundly imbalanced: we know in intimate detail how a minority died under Nazism, but we understand precious little about how the majority lived.

* In this vivid and important study, Roger Moorhouse seeks to portray the German experience of the Second World War, not through an examination of grand politics, but rather from the viewpoint of the capital's streets and homes - a 'Berlin-eye view' that makes use of published and unpublished memoirs, diaries and interviews.

* As well as giving a flavour of everyday life in the German capital, Berlin at War also raises issues about consent and dissent, morality and authority, which go to the heart of the experience of war and dictatorship. Above all, it charts the violent humbling of a once-proud metropolis - the fear, the cruelty, the petty heroism and the individual tragedy.

About this title

Review:

"A well-researched, fluently-written and utterly absorbing account of what life (and, so very often) death was like for ordinary Germans in the capital of Hitler's Reich during the Second World War. The Berliners' capacity for suffering, for sacrifice, for self-delusion, but also astonishingly for love - and even on occasion humour - is superbly evoked by Moorhouse's cornucopia of new information." (Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War)

"Berlin at War is a well-researched and beautifully composed account, vividly recreating those years of Nazi arrogance, oppression, and corruption, that ended in such terrible destruction and civilian suffering" (Antony Beevor)

"Roger Moorhouse has marshalled an impressive range of primary sources including newspaper reports, official documents, memoirs, diaries and interviews with the dwindling band of survivors to create a gripping panorama of Berlin at war...Moorhouse's meticulous and painstaking research matched by his narrative verve, wide ranging sympathy and eye for telling detail" (C J Schuler Independent)

"The greatest achievement of Moorhouse's book is that it manages to capture the complexities and contradictions of life in Hitler's Germany, illuminating the experiences of those who were victims, perpetrators or both. In doing so it provides something rare: a popular-history account that will satisfy both general readers and professional historians" (Irish Times)

"Moorhouse's evocative social history...brings...the sights, sounds, thoughts and feelings of the ordinary Germans who lived here" (Telegraph)

Book Description:

A portrayal of the German experience during the Second World War - told through the eyes of the citizens of Berlin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bodley Head
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0224080717
• ISBN 13: 9780224080712
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448