The book by an Oxford professor, one of the most authoritative researchers of Nazism, talks about the Second World War from the point of view of German citizens. It is based on private letters and diaries from the war. In chronological order, from 1939 to 1945, it describes how the Germans perceived the beginning of the war, what their hopes and fears were, and how their thoughts and feelings changed in moments of victories and defeats, as well as after the defeat of Nazism. The author dwells in detail on how the citizens of the warring country perceived repression and cruelty in the conquered territories and in Germany itself, how they treated the conquered peoples, the Jews and the “final solution to the Jewish question,” as well as on the complex relationship between the state and the church. Much space is devoted to the topic of massive Nazi propaganda. Of considerable interest are the details of everyday life in Germany at the front and in the rear: shortages of food and manufactured goods, the rationing system, bombings, evacuation, relationships with foreign workers, problems of children and adolescents. Taking a very obvious anti-Nazi stance, Nicholas Stargardt deliberately avoids judgment, striving to give an impartial, documented account.

“This is a book about a long war. Step by step in its pages we will follow the changes in German society and how almost invisibly, but irreversibly, individual people adapted to the war, the course of which, as they felt more and more every day, ceased to be influenced by any influence from their sides. We will follow the changing expectations, fluctuations in hopes and fears of individuals who went through the events that shaped them. The stories of these people give us an emotional measure of what they experienced and serve as a moral barometer of a society that has embarked on the path of self-destruction.” ()

The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.