Aftermath
Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich
Published on 14. April 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
432 pages
978-0-7535-5788-4 (ISBN)
Description
THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION***
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE***
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE***
A Book of the Year
The Times * Sunday Times * Telegraph * New Statesman * Financial Times * Irish Independent * Daily Mail
'A masterpiece' SPECTATOR
'Exemplary [and] important... This is the kind of book few writers possess the clarity of vision to write' MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES
'Magnificent... There are great lessons in the nature of humanity to be learnt here' TELEGRAPH
Germany, 1945: a country in ruins. Cities have been reduced to rubble and more than half of the population are where they do not belong or do not want to be. How can a functioning society ever emerge from this chaos?
In bombed-out Berlin, Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, journalist and member of the Nazi resistance, warms herself by a makeshift stove and records in her diary how a frenzy of expectation and industriousness grips the city. The Americans send Hans Habe, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and US army soldier, to the frontline of psychological warfare - tasked with establishing a newspaper empire capable of remoulding the minds of the Germans. The philosopher Hannah Arendt returns to the country she fled to find a population gripped by a manic loquaciousness, but faces a deafening wall of silence at the mention of the Holocaust.
Aftermath is a nuanced panorama of a nation undergoing monumental change. 1945 to 1955 was a raw, wild decade poised between two eras that proved decisive for Germany's future - and one starkly different to how most of us imagine it today. Featuring black and white photographs and posters from post-war Germany - some beautiful, some revelatory, some shocking - Aftermath evokes an immersive portrait of a society corrupted, demoralised and freed - all at the same time.
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION***
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE***
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE***
A Book of the Year
The Times * Sunday Times * Telegraph * New Statesman * Financial Times * Irish Independent * Daily Mail
'A masterpiece' SPECTATOR
'Exemplary [and] important... This is the kind of book few writers possess the clarity of vision to write' MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES
'Magnificent... There are great lessons in the nature of humanity to be learnt here' TELEGRAPH
Germany, 1945: a country in ruins. Cities have been reduced to rubble and more than half of the population are where they do not belong or do not want to be. How can a functioning society ever emerge from this chaos?
In bombed-out Berlin, Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, journalist and member of the Nazi resistance, warms herself by a makeshift stove and records in her diary how a frenzy of expectation and industriousness grips the city. The Americans send Hans Habe, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and US army soldier, to the frontline of psychological warfare - tasked with establishing a newspaper empire capable of remoulding the minds of the Germans. The philosopher Hannah Arendt returns to the country she fled to find a population gripped by a manic loquaciousness, but faces a deafening wall of silence at the mention of the Holocaust.
Aftermath is a nuanced panorama of a nation undergoing monumental change. 1945 to 1955 was a raw, wild decade poised between two eras that proved decisive for Germany's future - and one starkly different to how most of us imagine it today. Featuring black and white photographs and posters from post-war Germany - some beautiful, some revelatory, some shocking - Aftermath evokes an immersive portrait of a society corrupted, demoralised and freed - all at the same time.
Reviews / Votes
Exemplary [and] important... This is the kind of book few writers possess the clarity of vision to write * Max Hastings, Sunday Times * A masterpiece * The Spectator * Magnificent... There are great lessons in the nature of humanity to be learnt here -- Rupert Christiansen * The Telegraph * Jaehner is masterly in telling the tragic, despicable, comedic and uplifting stories of those who were there as he takes his readers on a fascinating tour through rubble-strewn postwar Germany * Katja Hoyer, The Times * Thought-provoking... Jaehner's unflinching account is a reminder that historical truths are rarely simple and always nuanced * Daily Mail * Magisterial, fascinating, humane - a brilliant book of the greatest importance and achievement * Philippe Sands, bestselling author of East West Street and The Ratline * I thought I knew the essential story of Germany's immediate post-war years. This book brilliantly adds to, indeed changes, my understanding. One of the best historians and authors of contemporary Germany, Jaehner paints an absorbing, human and surprising picture * John Kampfner, bestselling author of Why the Germans Do it Better * This panoramic journey through Germany in the ruins of the Third Reich is unforgettably thought-provoking [and] intensely moving * The Times (21 best history books 2021) * A reminder that the German experience will always stand apart * Economist * An extraordinary book of breathtaking scholarship. Jaehner shines a light on a dark and almost forgotten period of German history to find it pulsating with life * Jack Fairweather, bestselling author of The Volunteer *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Ebury Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
300 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7535-5788-4 (9780753557884)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2021
1st Edition
Virgin Digital
€11.99
Available for download
Persons
Harald Jaehner (Author)
Harald Jaehner is a cultural journalist and former editor of the Berliner Zeitung. He was also an honorary professor of cultural journalism at the Berlin University of the Arts. His book Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction in the UK and won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize for Non-Fiction in his native Germany.
Shaun Whiteside (Translator)
Shaun Whiteside is an award-winning translator from French, German, Italian and Dutch. His most recent translations from German include Aftermath by Harald Jaehner, To Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann, Swansong 1945 by Walter Kempowski, Berlin Finale by Heinz Rein and The Broken House by Horst Krueger.
Harald Jaehner is a cultural journalist and former editor of the Berliner Zeitung. He was also an honorary professor of cultural journalism at the Berlin University of the Arts. His book Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction in the UK and won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize for Non-Fiction in his native Germany.
Shaun Whiteside (Translator)
Shaun Whiteside is an award-winning translator from French, German, Italian and Dutch. His most recent translations from German include Aftermath by Harald Jaehner, To Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann, Swansong 1945 by Walter Kempowski, Berlin Finale by Heinz Rein and The Broken House by Horst Krueger.