Julia Boyd Bücher

Tief versteckt in den Allgäuer Alpen liegt das malerische Dorf Oberstdorf – ein Ort, an dem die Menschen jahrhundertelang ein einfaches Leben führten, während anderswo Geschichte geschrieben wurde. Doch selbst in dieser abgelegenen Idylle im Süden Bayerns beeinflusst der Nationalsozialismus das Leben der Menschen: ihren Alltag, ihre Handlungen und Gedanken. „Ein Dorf im Dritten Reich“ ist eine lebendige und bewegende Geschichte über den Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus in Deutschland aus der Perspektive der Bewohner eines kleinen Dorfes. Anhand von Archivmaterial, Briefen, Interviews und Memoiren gelingt den Autorinnen ein außergewöhnlich intimes Porträt Deutschlands unter Adolf Hitler, das einen Einblick in das Leben gewöhnlicher Menschen gewährt. Am Beispiel einzelner Dorfbewohner wird der Blick darauf gelenkt, wie sich Menschen unter hohem politischem und sozialem Druck verhalten. Die psychologischen Mechanismen des Nationalsozialismus werden greifbar gemacht. Es ist eine Geschichte über widersprüchliche Loyalitäten und Wünsche, über Mut und Schwäche, über Handeln und Apathie, über Hoffnung und Verzweiflung und über zerbrochene Träume – aber auch eine Geschichte, die aufzeigt, wie widerstandsfähig Menschen sein können. Das Buch erinnert uns daran, dass selbst die brutalsten Regime nicht alle Spuren menschlicher Gefühle auslöschen können.

Oberstdorf is a beautiful village high up in the Bavarian Alps, a place where for hundreds of years people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere. Yet even here, in the southernmost corner of Germany, National Socialism sought to control not only people's lives but also their minds. Drawing on archive material, letters, interviews and memoirs, A Village in the Third Reich is an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, of the descent into totalitarianism and of the tragedies that befell all of those touched by Nazism. In its pages we meet the Jews who survived - and those who didn't; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was judged 'not worth living'. ​It is a tale of conflicting loyalties and desires, of shattered dreams, despair and destruction - but one in which, ultimately, human resilience triumphs. These are the stories of ordinary lives at the crossroads of history.

With its fossil hunters and philosophers, diplomats, dropouts, writers and explorers, missionaries and refugees, Peking's foreign community in the early 20th century was as exotic as the city itself. Always a magnet for larger than life individuals, Peking attracted characters as diverse as Reginald Johnston (tutor to the last emperor), Bertrand Russell, Pierre Loti, Rabrindranath Tagore, Sven Hedin, Peter Fleming, Wallis Simpson and Cecil Lewis. The last great capital to remain untouched by the modern world, Peking both entranced and horrified its foreign residents. Ignoring the poverty outside their gates, they danced, played and squabbled among themselves, oblivious to the great political events that were to shape modern China unfolding around them. This is a dazzling portrait of an eclectic foreign community and of China itself.

"Compelling" - Daily Telegraph "Fascinating" - The Spectator The events that took place in Germany between 1919 and 1945 were dramatic and terrible but there were also moments of confusion, of doubt - of hope. How easy was it to know what was actually going on, to grasp the essence of National Socialism, to remain untouched by the propaganda or predict the Holocaust? Travellers in the Third Reich is an extraordinary history of the rise of the Nazis based on fascinating first-hand accounts, drawing together a multitude of voices and stories, including students, politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, journalists, fascists, artists, tourists, even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett. Their experiences create a remarkable three dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler - one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere. These are the accidental eyewitnesses to history. Disturbing, absurd, moving, and ranging from the deeply trivial to the deeply tragic, their tales give a fresh insight into the complexities of the Third Reich, its paradoxes and its ultimate destruction.