Out of the Darkness

Reviews / Votes

I could not put the book down. The way Frank Trentmann writes history, the way he brings together things great and small, analysis with narrative, is wonderful -- Bernhard Schlink, author of The Reader Outstanding ... A meticulous and well-judged account of Germany from 1942 to today [that] shows how it transformed itself from pariah nation to leader of a continent -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph, Best Books of the Year * An impressive account of how Germany built a new identity for itself after the barbaric Nazi years ... terrifically insightful ... This book runs to 838 pages, but barely a word is wasted. Trentmann is a skilful and unflashy storyteller with flickers of gentle irony. Echoing Tolstoy's theory of history as the "sum of human wills", he aims to stitch the scraps of everyday experience into a quilt of grand narrative. This results in a good deal of richness, colour and subtlety -- Oliver Moody * The Times * Compelling ... vivid ... fresh ... one of the most impressive studies I have read of German guilt and shame ... an eloquent and original account of the last eighty years of the country's history -- David Blackbourn * Literary Review * Absorbing... Frank Trentmann's approach is novel [and] his Germans leap vividly off the page, both as archetypes and as complex, multi-layered individuals... an excellent book -- Brendan Simms * New Statesman * Superb -- Stuart Jeffries * Spectator * In Out of the Darkness Trentmann does something different and extraordinary. He has composed an account of recent Germany that is not primarily political or economic or social, but moral.. [His] moral history is enormous, but never heavy-going: he is a gifted and intelligent writer -- Neal Ascherson * London Review of Books * Excellent ... Trentmann's study marshals an immense amount of evidence in response to a single basic question: how did Germans reassert themselves as morally oriented human beings? -- Ben Hutchinson * Times Literary Supplement * Remarkably rich . . . Out of the Darkness usefully reveals the roots of [modern Germany's] ethical knots. Trentmann is still hopeful that Germans can untangle them -- Peter Fritzsche * New York Times Book Review * Out of the Darkness give[s] a deep insight into how Germany and its people grappled with questions of guilt and identity.... navigates complex issues like self-pity, denazification, immigration, reunification and military intervention with refreshing clarity. This book couldn't be more timely -- Katja Hoyer * BBC History Magazine *