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

How and why did one of the most educated and cultured nations in the world become the initiator of the most brutal war and genocide in history?

In September 1939, the war began without much enthusiasm on the part of ordinary Germans, but without their active participation and devotion it could not have lasted for almost six years. How did the changing course of the war - from swift victories and lightning blitzkriegs to defeats in the east and devastating bombings of German cities - change the views, expectations and fears of the German people? When did the Germans realize that they were waging a genocidal war and how did they justify it to themselves?

British historian Nicholas Stargardt, drawing on numerous testimonies - diaries and letters from lovers, court records and military correspondence - explores how the Germans survived the Second World War, shedding light on their motives and internal conflicts. This is a true story about the fears of the perpetrators and the hopes of the victors, told on behalf of eyewitnesses - soldiers, teachers, housewives, Nazis, Christians and Jews, revealing the real motives of the society that supported and justified a brutal genocidal war.