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"Masterly. Frank Trentmann's wide-ranging, deeply researched, nuanced evaluation of changing German mentalities and moral challenges since the Nazi era is a tour de force.
— Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler
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In this magisterial book, Frank Trentmann charts how the Germans responded to the moral responsibilities that they faced as perpetrators of a war of annihilation and of the mass murder of the European Jews. Discussing transformations in East and West Germany, Trentmann highlights the trade-offs between moral reorientation and economic reconstruction. Portrayed on a broad canvas, this is a history of post-war Germany for our crisis-ridden times.
— Benjamin Ziemann, author of Hitler's Personal Prisoner: The Life of Martin Niemöller
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A milestone of historical writing
— Frankfurter Rundschau
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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?
— The Times Literary Supplement
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Frank Trentmann’s rich and brilliant Out of the Darkness traces the moral and material history of Germany since the Second World War through the lives of its people. Wonderfully readable and compelling, it introduces us to Christian peaceniks, 'red' militarists, frustrated feminists, unappreciated 'guest workers,' and a host of other unexpected and diverse Germans, illuminating the achievements and failures of the nation that emerged from the Third Reich.
— Suzanne L. Marchand, Author of Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe and Down from Olympus
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A milestone of historical writing
— Frankfurter Rundschau
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Monumental... a remarkable book...[with] original and unique insights into the lived history of the Germans... [It] succeeds like no other broad overview to combine the width and depth of human voices with an overarching narrative ...stimulating, immensely rich and very readable.
— Frank Biess, Sueddeutsche Zeitung
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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 skillful 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... [with] richness, colour and subtlety.
— Oliver Moody, The Times (London)
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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.
— "Best Books of 2023," The Daily Telegraph
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Trentmann adds another layer to the history of events: the accompanying self-reflection among the Germans, with all their contradictions, their conflicts, their insights and errors. This is original, enlightening and entertaining. We find ourselves in these pages and are amazed!
— Sueddeutsche Zeitung
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Impressive ... shows how German history can be told in a new way'
— Wolf Lepenies, Die Welt
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A great panorama.
— Hamburger Abendblatt
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Compelling...a deeply serious work that moves gracefully between the moral challenges that are his central concern and the more familiar categories of politics, law and culture.
— David Blackbourn, Literary Review
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#1 Political Book of 2023, Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) A Best Book of 2023, The Telegraph (United Kingdom)#1 Best Non-Fiction Book December 2023 and January 2024 at Die Zeit, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk, and taz (Germany)
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In this magisterial book, Frank Trentmann charts how the Germans responded to the moral responsibilities that they faced as perpetrators of a war of annihilation and of the mass murder of the European Jews. Discussing transformations in East and West Germany, Trentmann highlights the trade-offs between moral reorientation and economic reconstruction. Portrayed on a broad canvas, this is a history of post-war Germany for our crisis-ridden times.
— Benjamin Ziemann, author of Hitler's Personal Prisoner: The Life of Martin Niemöller
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I could not put the book down. The way Frank Trentmann writes history, the way he brings together great and small, analysis and narrative, is wonderful.
— Bernhard Schlink, author of the international best seller The Reader