The German War

A Nation Under Arms, 1939-1945; Citizens and Soldiers

By: Nicholas Stargardt

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

A major new history of the Third Reich that explores the German psyche.

As early as 1941, Allied victory in World War II seemed all but assured. How and why, then, did the Germans prolong the barbaric conflict for three and a half more years?

In The German War, acclaimed historian Nicholas Stargardt draws on an extraordinary range of primary source materials - personal diaries, court records, and military correspondence - to answer this question. He offers an unprecedented portrait of wartime Germany, bringing the hopes and expectations of the German people - from infantrymen and tank commanders on the Eastern Front to civilians on the home front - to vivid life. While most historians identify the German defeat at Stalingrad as the moment when the average German citizen turned against the war effort, Stargardt demonstrates that the Wehrmacht in fact retained the staunch support of the patriotic German populace until the bitter end.

Astonishing in its breadth and humanity, The German War is a groundbreaking new interpretation of what drove the Germans to fight - and keep fighting - for a lost cause.

©2015 Nicholas Stargardt (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Interesting take on an oft overlooked side of WWII

Any additional comments?

This is a very well researched book. I was particularly impressed with what the author, Nicholas Stargardt, set out to do in the introduction - "provide a sense of breadth and depth" of the feeling of the German people. I feel like that goal was accomplished effectively. That phrase jumped out at me and stuck with me throughout the book. You see how not all Germans were foaming-at-the-mouth-maniac Nazis. You get a sense of how confused the thought was among a public who's only information came from Goebbel's propaganda. You find out how the feeling of national unity, so strong at the beginning of the War, slowly changed to distrust of their government and eventually of their neighbors. You find out how the Churches in Germany struggled with Nazism and the news of atrocities increasingly coming back from the front. You follow a Jewish family who struggles to hide in plain sight as bombed out refugees. You see moderate to hard-line Nazi families and how they refuse to believe the truth of the terrible things the Third Reich has done as the War comes to a close. You get a sense of the helpless rage so many felt about the Allied terror bombing of German cities. All this information and more is in this book. As a WWII historian, I learned many aspects of the War I previously knew little about. This is definitely worth a read and an Audible credit.

Great book and very informative

What made the experience of listening to The German War the most enjoyable?

The narration and all the personal stories.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The German War?

Soldier experiences at home and at the front.

Which scene was your favorite?

The horrors of the mass killings.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Great story, interesting letters, all the drama of real life.

The good, the bad & the horrific

A disturbing insight - yet one that should be remembered. The book reminds us of our ability to accept (and advance) a community of hate that resulted in the wholesale meaningless destruction of life. The willingness to both commit atrocities and then accept these acts for "the greater good" is beyond comprehension.

The book captivates the listener through the diaries, letters and events of German soldiers, their families and loved ones - the listener is invested in "what happens to them".

I would like to say "how could an entire nation accept the propaganda and participate in willful blindness to extermination of the Jews" but I also realize hindsight self-righteousness is cheap. I can only hope I would have been one of "the good", one that would have stood up and said no, one who risked my safety to shelter the persecuted. But....reading history and living history are two different things.

In summary, an excellent book - the lessons of which - including the dangers of collective mentality - should never been forgotten.

Great read for history buffs

This doesn't deal with battles but rather with the effects of National Socialism on ordinary people, soldiers and citizens. The author quotes extensively from diaries and letters which helps the reader to understand what it was like for Germans. The shocking part is how little most seemed to understand how and why they were fighting a war and how little sympathy they had for the victims as though they suffered the most because of Allied bombings. After the war the generation that fought it was unwilling to accept collective guilt and many continued to blame everything on the Jews.

Very good, skillfully written, just one flaw.

could not stop listening. The author wove letters and diaries of ordinary people into the context of the larger picture so skillfully.
The reader has a very good voice for the job: crisp, mildly authoritative, pleasantly gravelly.
My one critique is that he did not seem to bother with accurate pronounciation of Polish or Russian words, not even place names. If he ad taken a bit of time to get these even approximately right, it would have added so much to the presentation and I would have given him an additional star. Despite this rather giant flaw, I highky recommend this book, especially for folks with an interest in Central Europe, Germany and WWII.