A stunningly evocative portrait of Hitler's Germany through the people of a single village.

Oberstdorf is a beautiful village high up in the Bavarian Alps, a place where for hundreds of years people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere. Yet even here, in the southernmost corner of Germany, National Socialism sought to control not only people's lives but also their minds.

Drawing on archive material, letters, interviews and memoirs, A Village in the Third Reich is an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, of the descent into totalitarianism and of the tragedies that befell all of those touched by Nazism. In its pages we meet the Jews who survived - and those who didn't; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was judged 'not worth living'.

It is a tale of conflicting loyalties and desires, of shattered dreams, despair and destruction - but one in which, ultimately, human resilience triumphs. These are the stories of ordinary lives at the crossroads of history.

Details

ISBN13: 9781783966639
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 464
Edition:
Publication Date: 6 Oct 2022
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 19.8(H) x 12.9(L)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Julia Boyd is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism through the Eyes of Everyday People. Her previous books include A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking's Foreign Colony, The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician and Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan. As the widow of a former diplomat, she lived in Germany from 1977 to 1981. She lives in London. Angelika Patel was born into an old Oberstdorf family. She studied History and German Literature before taking an MBA at INSEAD at Fontainebleu. She is the author of Ein Dorf im Spiegel seiner Zeit (A Village in the Mirror of its Time): Oberstdorf 1918-1952. She lives in London and Oberstdorf.

Reviews

'A fascinating deep dive into one community as it experiences the rise and fall of Hitler.' The Times

'Boyd is an outstanding micro-historian.' iNews

'Masterly . . . [Boyd is] a leading historian of human responses in political extremis.' The Oldie

'Fascinating... You'll learn more about the psychological workings of Nazism by reading this superbly researched chronicle... than you will by reading a shelf of wider-canvas volumes on the rise of Nazism.' Daily Mail

'Exceptional... Boyd's book reminds us that even the most brutal regimes cannot extinguish all semblance of human feeling' Mail on Sunday

'Gripping... vividly depicted... [a] humane and richly detailed book' Spectator

'An absorbing, thoroughly recommended read' Family Tree magazine

'Compelling and evocative' All About History

'The rise of Nazi Germany through the prism of one small village in Bavaria. [...] Astonishing' Jane Garvey on Fortunately... with Fi and Jane

'incredibly engaging' History of War magazine