The first major history of what happened in Germany immediately after the Second World War 'Frederick Taylor is one of the brightest historians writing today.' Newsweek 'Taylor's book is popular history at its best, essential reading for anyone who is interested in the Nazis and wants to know what happened next.' New Statesman Germany had entered the twentieth century united, prosperous, and strong, admired by almost all humanity for its remarkable achievements. By 1945 it was a broken shell: its great cities lay in ruins and its shattered industries and cultural heritage seemed utterly beyond saving. The Germans themselves had come to be regarded as evil monsters. After six years of warfare how were the exhausted victors to handle the end of a horror that to most people seemed without precedent? In Exorcising Hitler, Frederick Taylor tells the story of Germany's year zero and what came after. As he describes the final Allied campaign, the hunting down of the Nazi resistance, the vast displacement of peoples in central and eastern Europe, the attitudes of the conquerors, the competition between Soviet Russia and the West, the hunger and near starvation of a once proud people, the initially naive attempt at expunging Nazism from all aspects of German life and the later more pragmatic approach, we begin to understand that despite almost total destruction, a combination of conservatism, enterprise and pragmatism in relation to former Nazis enabled the economic miracle of the 1950s. And we see how it was only when the '60s generation (the children of the Nazi era) began to question their parents with increasing violence that Germany began to awake from its 'sleep cure'.

The first major history of what happened in Germany immediately after World War Two

About the Author
Frederick Taylor was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School, and read History and Modern Languages at Oxford, and did postgraduate work at Sussex University. He is the author of the acclaimed bestsellers, Dresden and The Berlin Wall. He edited and translated The Goebbels Diaries. He lives in Cornwall.

Reviews
'Taylor's account is unexceptionable and sometimes impressive ... There is much memorable anecdotage in this readable tale' * Max Hastings, Sunday Times *
'An engrossing account of the occupation and denazification of Germany ... a balanced and thought-provoking story' * Scotland on Sunday *
'Frederick Taylor is one of the brightest historians writing today.' * Newsweek *
'Taylor's book is popular history at its best, essential reading for anyone who is interested in the Nazis and wants to know what happened next.' * Richard Evans, New Statesman *



Book Information
ISBN 9781408822128
Author Frederick Taylor
Format Paperback
Page Count 496
Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 393g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 30mm