A Woman In Berlin
An extraordinary wartime memoir
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'This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it' ARUNDHATI ROY
'One of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat' ANTONY BEEVOR
Between April 20th and June 22nd 1945 the anonymous author of A Woman in Berlin wrote about life within the falling city as it was sacked by the Russian Army. Fending off the boredom and deprivation of hiding, the author records her experiences, observations and meditations in this stark and vivid diary. Accounts of the bombing, the rapes, the rationing of food and the overwhelming terror of death are rendered in the dispassionate, though determinedly optimistic prose of a woman fighting for survival amidst the horror and inhumanity of war.
This diary was first published in America in 1954 in an English translation and in Britain in 1955. A German language edition was published five years later in Geneva and was met with tremendous controversy. In 2003, over forty years later, it was republished in Germany to critical acclaim - and more controversy. This diary has been unavailable since the 1960s and this is a new English translation. A Woman in Berlin is an astonishing and deeply affecting account.
'One of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat' ANTONY BEEVOR
Between April 20th and June 22nd 1945 the anonymous author of A Woman in Berlin wrote about life within the falling city as it was sacked by the Russian Army. Fending off the boredom and deprivation of hiding, the author records her experiences, observations and meditations in this stark and vivid diary. Accounts of the bombing, the rapes, the rationing of food and the overwhelming terror of death are rendered in the dispassionate, though determinedly optimistic prose of a woman fighting for survival amidst the horror and inhumanity of war.
This diary was first published in America in 1954 in an English translation and in Britain in 1955. A German language edition was published five years later in Geneva and was met with tremendous controversy. In 2003, over forty years later, it was republished in Germany to critical acclaim - and more controversy. This diary has been unavailable since the 1960s and this is a new English translation. A Woman in Berlin is an astonishing and deeply affecting account.
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- Published: Sep 01 2011
- Pages: 320
- 196 x 126mm
- ISBN: 9781844087976
Press Reviews
Arundhati Roy
This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it
Antony Beevor
One of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat
- Arundhati Roy, author of The Good of Small Things
This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it.
- Kirkus Reviews
Complex, closely observed diary by a woman living in conquered Berlin at the end of WWII.
- Los Angeles Times
Let Anonymous stand witness as she wished to: as an undistorted voice for all women in war and its aftermath, whatever their names or nation or ethnicity. Anywhere.
- Entertainment Weekly
An astonishing record of survival . . . the voice of Anonymous emerges as both shrewd and funny . . . a fresh contribution to the literature of war.
- The New York Observer
A riveting account of a military atrocity . . . The author doesn't try to explain or moralize the horror. She simply records it as perhaps no one else has, in all of its devastating essence.
David Hare
The GuardianA stunning account of a German woman's battle to survive repeated rape at the hands of the victors among the ruins of Berlin . . . While leaders plot their dreams of glory and victory, the lives of ordinary people--on all sides--are trampled and destroyed. A most salutary work.
- Publishers Weekly
The author has a fierce, uncompromising voice, and her book should become a classic of war literature.
- Daily Mail
Marvelous . . . As it is a human instinct to survive, this book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit.
- The Daily Telegraph
Coolly written, tearingly honest . . . This is a classic not only of war literature but also of writing at the very extreme of human suffering.
Robert Sandhill
This is not an hysterical woman ... you simply cannot dismiss it ... profoundly, acutely embarrassing ... an insight into the resilience of people in an unknowable situation
- Kirkus Reviews
Complex, closely observed diary by a woman living in conquered Berlin at the end of WWII
- Los Angeles Times
Let Anonymous stand witness as she wished to: as an undistorted voice for all women in war and its aftermath, whatever their names or nation or ethnicity. Anywhere
- Entertainment Weekly
An astonishing record of survival . . . the voice of Anonymous emerges as both shrewd and funny . . . a fresh contribution to the literature of war
David Hare
GuardianA stunning account of a German woman's battle to survive repeated rape at the hands of the victors among the ruins of Berlin . . . While leaders plot their dreams of glory and victory, the lives of ordinary people--on all sides--are trampled and destroyed. A most salutary work
- Publishers Weekly
The author has a fierce, uncompromising voice, and her book should become a classic of war literature
- Daily Mail
Marvelous . . . As it is a human instinct to survive, this book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit
- Daily Telegraph
Coolly written, tearingly honest . . . This is a classic not only of war literature but also of writing at the very extreme of human suffering