An innovative study of the ways in which Germans of different ages and life stages lived through the violent eruptions of the two world wars, and through the rise of Nazism, looking at the ways in which this shaped, not merely German society, state, and economy, but also the character of the German people.



Dissonant Lives is not a standard 'history of Germany' in the twentieth century, or even of the German dictatorships. It is concerned with the ways in which Germans of different ages and life stages lived through this terrible period in German history, and how they interpreted, confronted, and responded to the multiple challenges of their times. In volume one, Mary Fulbrook examines the violent eruptions of the two world wars and the rise of Nazism, exploring the experiences and perceptions of selected individuals, and how major historical events affected the course of their lives and their outlooks. In doing so, she provides a new understanding of the ways in which not only the character of the German state, economy, and social structure changed over the century, but also the very character of the German people themselves.