The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939–1945

A book by an Oxford professor, one of the most authoritative researchers of Nazism, tells about World War II from the viewpoint of German civilians. It is based on private letters and wartime diaries. Chronologically, from 1939 to 1945, it describes how Germans perceived the outbreak of war, what hopes and fears they had, and how their thoughts and feelings changed at moments of victory and defeat, as well as after the defeat of Nazism. The author dwells in detail on how citizens of a warring country perceived repression and cruelty in the conquered territories and in Germany itself, how they treated conquered peoples, Jews, and the “final solution to the Jewish question,” as well as the complex relationship between the state and the church. Much space is given to the topic of massive Nazi propaganda. Considerable interest is also in details of everyday life in Germany both at the front and in the rear: lack of food and manufactured goods, the ration system, bombing, evacuation, relations with foreign workers, and problems of children and teenagers. Taking an obvious anti-Nazi stance, Nicholas Stargardt consciously avoids judgments, seeking to provide an impartial, document-supported description.