An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler - Softcover

Fritzsche, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1541698827 ISBN 13: 9781541698826

Publisher: Basic Books, 2018

Synopsis

A vivid account of German-occupied Europe during World War II that reveals civilians' struggle to understand the terrifying chaos of war

In An Iron Wind, prize-winning historian Peter Fritzsche draws diaries, letters, and other first-person accounts to show how civilians in occupied Europe tried to make sense of World War II. As the Third Reich targeted Europe's Jews for deportation and death, confusion and mistrust reigned. What were Hitler's aims? Did Germany's rapid early victories mark the start of an enduring new era? Was collaboration or resistance the wisest response to occupation? How far should solidarity and empathy extend? And where was God? People desperately tried to understand the horrors around them, but the stories they told themselves often justified a selfish indifference to their neighbors' fates.
Piecing together the broken words of the war's witnesses and victims, Fritzsche offers a haunting picture of the most violent conflict in modern history.

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Fritzsche is the W. D. & Sarah E. Trowbridge Professor of History at the University of Illinois. The author of nine books, including the award-winning Life and Death in the Third Reich, he lives in Urbana, Illinois.

Review:

A New York Times Notable Book
One of Christian Science Monitor's 15 Best Nonfiction Books of 2016

"A profoundly significant exploration of how Europeans--both Germans and those under German occupation--struggled to make sense of the conflict."―Richard Overy, Wall Street Journal

"A work of deep reflection by an experienced historian."―Timothy Snyder, New York Times Book Review

"Riveting, important...the most bracing and unsparing dissection of the subject to appear in many years."―Christian Science Monitor

"Powerfully written....Fritzsche renders a tremendous service in his portrayal of human beings in wartime."―CHOICE

"A thoroughly worked example of social history at its most valuable. It could serve as a model for studies of our own times."―New York Journal of Books

"Startlingly illuminating....Fritzsche draws on copious diaries, letters, and memoirs to convey the texture of everyday life for French, Polish, and Swiss citizens during World War II...[a] powerful, riveting, wrenching history."―Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1541698827
• ISBN 13: 9781541698826
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384