The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich
When Germany surrendered in May 1945 it was a nation reduced to rubble. Immediately, America, Britain, Soviet Russia, and France set about rebuilding in their zones of occupation. Most urgent were physical needs--food, water, and sanitation--but from the start the Allies were also anxious to indoctrinate the German people in the ideas of peace and civilization.

Denazification and reeducation would be key to future peace, and the arts were crucial guides to alternative, less militaristic ways of life. In an extraordinary extension of diplomacy, over the next four years, many writers, artists, actors, and filmmakers were dispatched by Britain and America to help rebuild the country their governments had spent years bombing. Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Marlene Dietrich, George Orwell, Lee Miller, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Billy Wilder, and others undertook the challenge of reconfiguring German society. In the end, many of them became disillusioned by the contrast between the destruction they were witnessing and the cool politics of reconstruction.

While they may have had less effect on Germany than Germany had on them, the experiences of these celebrated figures, never before told, offer an entirely fresh view of post-war Europe. The Bitter Taste of Victory is a brilliant and important addition to the literature of World War II.
1123663526
The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich
When Germany surrendered in May 1945 it was a nation reduced to rubble. Immediately, America, Britain, Soviet Russia, and France set about rebuilding in their zones of occupation. Most urgent were physical needs--food, water, and sanitation--but from the start the Allies were also anxious to indoctrinate the German people in the ideas of peace and civilization.

Denazification and reeducation would be key to future peace, and the arts were crucial guides to alternative, less militaristic ways of life. In an extraordinary extension of diplomacy, over the next four years, many writers, artists, actors, and filmmakers were dispatched by Britain and America to help rebuild the country their governments had spent years bombing. Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Marlene Dietrich, George Orwell, Lee Miller, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Billy Wilder, and others undertook the challenge of reconfiguring German society. In the end, many of them became disillusioned by the contrast between the destruction they were witnessing and the cool politics of reconstruction.

While they may have had less effect on Germany than Germany had on them, the experiences of these celebrated figures, never before told, offer an entirely fresh view of post-war Europe. The Bitter Taste of Victory is a brilliant and important addition to the literature of World War II.
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The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich

The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich

by Lara Feigel
The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich

The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love, and Art in the Ruins of the Reich

by Lara Feigel

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Overview

When Germany surrendered in May 1945 it was a nation reduced to rubble. Immediately, America, Britain, Soviet Russia, and France set about rebuilding in their zones of occupation. Most urgent were physical needs--food, water, and sanitation--but from the start the Allies were also anxious to indoctrinate the German people in the ideas of peace and civilization.

Denazification and reeducation would be key to future peace, and the arts were crucial guides to alternative, less militaristic ways of life. In an extraordinary extension of diplomacy, over the next four years, many writers, artists, actors, and filmmakers were dispatched by Britain and America to help rebuild the country their governments had spent years bombing. Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Marlene Dietrich, George Orwell, Lee Miller, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Billy Wilder, and others undertook the challenge of reconfiguring German society. In the end, many of them became disillusioned by the contrast between the destruction they were witnessing and the cool politics of reconstruction.

While they may have had less effect on Germany than Germany had on them, the experiences of these celebrated figures, never before told, offer an entirely fresh view of post-war Europe. The Bitter Taste of Victory is a brilliant and important addition to the literature of World War II.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781632865533
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date: 05/17/2016
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 464
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Dr. Lara Feigel is a Senior Lecturer in English at King's College London, where her research centers on the 1930s and World War II. In addition to the critically acclaimed The Love-charm of Bombs, she has authored Literature, Cinema and Politics, 1930–1945 and co-edited Modernism on Sea: Art and Culture at the British Seaside and the New Selected Journals of Stephen Spender. She has written for the Guardian, Prospect and History Today. Lara lives in West Hampstead, London.
Lara Feigel is a Professor of Modern Literature and Culture at King's College London. She is the author of four previous works of non-fiction: Literature, Cinema and Politics, 1930-1945 (2009), The Love-charm of Bombs (2013), The Bitter Taste of Victory (2016) and, most recently, Free Woman (2018), as well as one novel, The Group (2020). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and writes regularly for the Guardian and other publications. Lara lives in Oxfordshire.

www.larafeigel.com
@larafeigel

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Maps xiii

Introduction 1

Part I The Battle for Germany, 1944-45

1 'Setting out for a country that didn't really exist': Crossing the Siegfried line: November-December 1944 13

2 'Nazi Germany is doomed': Advance into Germany: January-April 1945 28

3 'We were blind and unbelieving and slow': Victory: April-May 1945 43

Part II Ruin and Reconstruction, May-December 1945

4 'Complete Chaos Guaranteed': Occupation: May-August 1945 71

5 'Berlin is boiling in sweltering summer heat': Berlin: July-October 1945 99

6 'A pain that hurts too much': German Winter: September-December 1945 120

Part III Judgement and Hunger, 1945-46

7 'You'll hang them anyhow': Nuremberg: November 1945-March 1946 143

8 'Let Germany Live!': Fighting the Peace: March-May 1946 168

9 'Let this trial never finish': Boredom: May-August 1946 187

10 'The law tries to keep up with life': Judgement: September-October 1946 198

Part IV Tension and Revival, 1946-48

11 'Their suffering, and often their bravery, make one love them': Cold War: October 1946-October 1947 221

12 'I've been the Devil's General on earth too long': Artistic enlightenment: November 1946-January 1948 251

13 In Hell too there are these luxuriant gardens': Germany in California: January-June 1948 275

Part V Divided Germany, 1948-49

14 'If this is a war who is our enemy?': The Berlin Airlift: June 1948-May 1949 305

15 'Perhaps our deaths will shock you into attention': Division: May-October 1949 335

Coda: 'Closing time in the gardens of the West' 357

Notes 371

Bibliography 409

Acknowledgements 421

Index 425

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