The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939–1945 - Stargardt (World History, Germany, WWII)

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.

Review
One of the New York Times Book Review’s 100 Notable Books of 2015.

Winner of the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize

Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review
“A dramatic look at the lives of ordinary German men and women during World War II.”

New York Times Book Review
“[A] gripping new book.... To write like this requires a rare sensitivity and psychological sophistication coupled with a degree of fearlessness.... Stargardt impresses not only as a cultural historian. He also has an impressively strong grasp on the military narrative of the war. And this is indispensable.... Stargardt has given us a truly profound piece of history.”

The Guardian
“This vivid history of everyday life captures the complex feelings of ordinary Germans under the Nazi regime.... A superb study.”

Wall Street Journal
“Nicholas Stargardt’s...gracefully written The German War offers by far the most comprehensive and readable guide to these issues…This is splendid scholarship.... Anyone interested in National Socialist Germany, World War II and the many murderous regimes that still disfigure the earth should relish The German War.”

Enjoy and seed.