Beyond Defeat
- 286 pages
- 11 hours of reading
"More powerful by far than All Quiet on the Western Front and much more frightening." Minneapolis Star-Tribune The daring, brutal and moving tale of a young, enlisted German soldier who hates Hitler and yet must fight for his country. He is eventually captured by the Americans in the bloody battle at Cassino and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in the Missouri. Within the barbed wire, the camp is run by fervent Nazis who rule by terror and horrific violence while the disinterested Americans do nothing... The novel was inspired by author Hans Werner Richter's (1908 – 1993) own experiences as a German POW. He went on the write several critically-acclaimed novels and non-fiction books. "Not since All Quiet on the Western Front has there been such a moving story of what it was like to be a German soldier." Rapid City Journal "A graphic account...thought-provoking and timely. Richter's writing is pointedly sharp." Los Angeles Times "Tense and electrifying." New York Times "This is as important a document and as powerful a novel as All Quiet on the Western Front." Montgomery Advertiser "This is perhaps the finest novel to come out of post-war Germany. " Kansas City Star "A powerful, moving book... a story that begins with bare, harsh, stabbing realism...rapidly becomes a story whose chief interest is the ideas behind the action. And ideas, in the long run, are more exciting than bullets." Oakland Tribune
