Klemens von Klemperer Book order

The author's life narrative intertwines personal experiences with the broader struggles of his generation, shaped by the turbulence of the interwar period. Through reflections on his and his friends' journeys, he explores the quest for meaning amid fragmented realities, driven by a thirst for knowledge and commitment to ideals. His scholarly focus on the German Resistance to Hitler highlights figures of dignity and courage during dark times, aiming to shed light on the "other" Germany—the one characterized by righteousness amid the horrors of the Holocaust.

The account of the author's life, spent between Europe and America, is at the same time an account of his generation, one that came of age between the two World Wars. Recalling not only circumstances of his own situation but that of his friends, the author shows how this generation faced a reality that seemed fragmented, and in their shared thirst for knowledge and commitment to ideas they searched for cohesiveness among the glittering, holistic ideologies and movements of the twenties and thirties. The author's scholarly work on the German Resistance to Hitler revealed to him those who maintained dignity and courage in times of peril and despair, which became for him a life's pursuit. This work is unique in its thorough inclusion of the postwar decades and its perspective from a historian eager to rescue the "other" Germany — the Germany of the righteous rather than the Holocaust murderers.

This text provides insights into German thought and society in the context of the challenges of modernity in the first half of the 20th century. The author looks at the tensions between a realistic acceptance of disenchantment with the modern world, and an insistence upon re-enchantment.

However, Professor von Klemperer shows that many of the principles and strategies of the Widerstand had distinct moral and historical consequences when considered in their context. This context includes changes in the nature of international diplomacy which became evident in the resisters' contacts with the churches, the international intelligence community, and the Resistance movements outside Germany.