Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of Kirkus Reviews' Best Nonfiction Books of 2018"
"Smithsonian: Best History Books of 2018"
"One of Choice Reviews' Outstanding Academic Titles of 2018"
"A revealing study of the lives of ‘ordinary Germans’ under the Third Reich and its aftermath. . . . A provocative addition to a vast literature: Jarausch's history complicates our understanding of German society during the early decades of the 20th century." * Kirkus *
"It’s a wide-ranging, panoramic, revealing treatment, and for the most part, it’s very dark. . . . For those who seek to understand the German experience in the twentieth century, Jarausch has done a tremendous service."
---Cass R. Sunstein, New York Review of Books"[A] fascinating study."
---Neil Gregor, Literary Review"Well written, well researched, and analytical, this publication provides considerable insight into comprehending how it is possible for a phoenix to rise from the ashes and how resilience can be a national virtue."
---Stuart McClung, New York Journal of Books"Jarausch is a class act as a researcher. Every pronouncement is carefully weighed and underpinned with evidence. His thorough, considered approach epitomises social history at its very best. . . . Through the medium of memoirs,
Broken Lives offers an explanation for Germany’s dramatic reversal of fortunes from catastrophe to civility."
---Hester Vaizey, Times Higher Education"Jarausch’s steady technique gives the story continuity, as he traces the experiences of . . . young people coping with their inclusion into Nazi life."
---Jonathan Steinberg, The Spectator"
Broken Lives . . . shows how World War I defeat did not lead to repentance in a country that had become theologically liberal or atheistic, but plans for revenge. For several years ordinary non-Jewish Germans rode high and thrilled to accounts of military victory, but their comeuppance was severe. All Germans suffered for a decade starting in 1942, and for those in the east torment lasted for nearly a half-century."
---Marvin Olasky, World (25 Good History Reads)
