Current Affairs and Media

Towards the end of my undergraduate degree, I became entirely fascinated by the ways that the children of Nazi perpetrators reacted to their parents' crimes. So it was with something between excitement and jealousy that I later learned that Philippe Sands was making an (excellent) film about exactly the same topic. As part of that film, he got to know Horst von Wächter, the son of Otto von Wächter, Nazi Governor in Galicia during the war. This stunning book (there is also a podcast) not only tells the story of the elder von Wächter's escape from justice at the end of the War - a story which twists and turns like a John le Carre novel (Mr le Carre does in fact feature!) - but also the story of his son's deeply problematic views on his own father. The younger Wächter, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, refuses to accept his father was a major criminal and Sands's great achievement here is to explore that alongside the gripping tale of the so-called Nazi ratlines.

The Utopians

In the aftermath of WW1, people all over the world plotted ambitious ways to try and reform society in such a way that conflict on a global scale would never again be possible. To achieve this, they felt entirely new societal structures were required which would grow from small utopian communities.
Anna Neima takes six of these communities from around the world, handling each one in an individual chapter. Despite this broken up approach, one of the most startling aspects of this book is how much personal continuity there were between movements that spread from Japan and India to California. On top of this many of them shared an obsession with Tolstoy and his top-down approach to reform society. I was endlessy fascinated by some of the tantalising visionaries and unhinged looks behind these communities and felt Neima does a superb job in showing how these six remote communities were part of a flawed but ambitious global network.

A Promised Land

Reading Obama's book, one is immediately overwhelmed by a surge of nostalgia and even some bafflement. Was it really only four years ago that America had a president whose discourse with the public could operate above the level of a tweet ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS? And was this president adept at compromise and working with his political opponents to achieve his goals, rather than sacking his allies VIA CAPS LOCK TWEET?
Nostalgia may well be one's first impression when reading this book but it will quickly be overcome by the realisation that Obama's differences to Trump extend to his ability to build a tense and gripping narrative about the driest of subjects (to be fair I haven't read "The Art of the Deal"), and by his ability to write in beautiful (sometimes a bit too flowery) prose. This isn't a memoir full of great revelations but instead of great insight and a reminder that maybe America was great enough already. BEST PRESIDENTIAL MEMOIR EVER! AMAZING!!!

A Village in the Third Reich

We might all once have felt that the moment of saturation for books about the Third Reich might be approaching when British writers start writing fairy in depth histories of not very significant Bavarian villages during the period. And Julia Boyd is not even the first British person to analyse the social history of smaller places in the era (I think Ian Kershaw might be able to make that claim). This book is however a valuable and well-written addition to the popular history of Nazi Germany. Boyd's cast of characters is kept small enough to mean you begin to understand the internal politics of the village and she faithfully tells stories in an unembellished way. Boyd is not an academic and it sometimes shows in both positive and negative ways. There are a few small inaccuracies in the book but her empathy for her characters shines through (occasionally to an almost jarring extent). In short, even if this is the moment of saturation, I think we might be best off just adding more water.

A Promised Land

Finding Me

Viola Davis impresses with intensity in cinema, for television and on stage. In 'Finding me' we accompany the actress through her childhood and to the roots of her strength.
It's a tough road full of adversity, setbacks and trauma.
Viola's powerful writing is breathtaking, relentlessly honest and full of wise insights.
I really love it.

Crying in H Mart

Somewhat to my surprise (since I thought the author and I would have little in common) I was absolutely engrossed by this memoir.
I especially loved Zauner's reminiscence of her life in the Pacific Northwest, more precisely in Eugene, Oregon. It coincidentally is the same town the American side of my family lived for decades and where I spent a few months after graduation myself; getting to know the college town a little bit which means I was able to recognize many of the spots she describes, be it the Willamette River I cycled next to frequently to get downtown or visiting a concert at the McDonald Theatre.
Zauner's heart-wrenching story of her mother's illness brought tears to my eyes several times and her overt passion for Korean food made me curious to try more of this cuisine. This book is a real treasure!

The Woman in Me

Absolutly emotional!
This book took me through ups and downs. I found myself shaking my head a few times, then take a deep breath and go on reading.

This is not a shitstorm book that is intended to spread rumors. I think Britney talks very reflectively about how she experienced everything back then and how she felt about it.

I can recommend this book to everyone. It doesn't matter if you're a Britney fan or not. Because her story is one that should be heard and read!

The Unwomanly Face of War

It's not always easy to praise Nobel Prize juries but in bringing Svetlana Alexievich to global attention, they have (by contrast to giving a gong to a guy with a guitar) done great service to global literature. This is her first book and not only one of the best books on World War Two I have read but also a superb advertisement for oral history as a historical and literary form. Even today, it feels fresh and somewhat revolutionary for giving a voice to the huge range of women who fought in the Red Army nearly 40 years after its first publication. What makes the narrative so compelling that it shows which Soviet narratives were widely adopted by ordinary soldiers but also clearly demonstrates this was not a perfect process. And while the horror of war is its central theme, it also shows how fighting could for some (but again not all) female Soviet soldier be emancipatory. A stunning book which is set the stone for her subsequent entirely Nobel-worthy corpus of work.

Just Kids

With "Just Kids" Patti Smith, the iconic punk poet of 70s New York, crafts an artistic Bildungsroman that is as transgressive as it is instructional. Deeply fascinating and full of insight into literature, music and art this has rightly become a modern classic.

Agent Sonya

Ein aufregendes, gefährliches Leben - spannend erzählt.
Eine junge Frau ist im ländlichen Bereich von Oxfordshire, Großbritannien, mit dem Fahrrad unterwegs zu vereinbarten Treffen bzw. 'Toten Briefkästen' diesen Eindruck vermittelt treffend das Cover des Buches, jedoch die Flieger am Horizont irritieren, sollen aber wahrscheinlich ihre Tätigkeit während des zweiten Weltkriegs verdeutlichen. Die zwanzigjährige Tätigkeit einer für den Kommunismus wichtigen Spionin wird in vielen Details spannend im internationalen Wirkungskreis ausgehend von Berlin geschildert. Neben den Fakten kommt auch der emotionale Stressfaktor, die Angst vor Verrat und überraschter Aufdeckung im Schreibstil nicht zu kurz. Die vielen aufgeführten Personen kommen authentisch und ohne Schnörkel daher. Besonders interessant für mich sind besonders die Informationen über das Atomprogramm der Alliierten zwischen 1943 und 1949 und ihre Weitergabe an die Russen, mir bisher nur aus amerikanischer Sicht bekannt.

The Girl with the Red Hair

This is a fascinating look at the life of Hannie Schaft, a young female Dutch Resistance fighter, following her from her student life, how she met the Resistance and the ways she helped fight for freedom - she was determined to fight for those who couldn't!
If you visit Amsterdam, make sure to visit the Verzetsmuseum where you can find Hannie again.

Current Affairs and Media

New Releases

The Memoir every Cher-Fan is waiting for! Preorder here!

Our recommendations

Bestseller

Our customers recommend